These Crimson eyes
by Xeno-Freak
Summary: What would you do if you had a second chance? A better chance? The life, or should I say, death, of Uzumaki Naruto just got more interesting…
1. Karma Isn't Always a Bitch

Authors note: I got this idea stuck in my head, and figured why the hell not, surprise surprise, by the end of the summer I have half a story down on a note pad. I'll be converting these things one at a time sporadically. Hopefully around one every other week or sooner. Reviews will encourage faster typing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else really… if your willing to sign the series over to me I am happy to accept though!

Prologue: Karma isn't always a bitch

Naruto blinked, put a hand over his chest. It was gone, the gapping whole left by his 'best friends' chidori (thank you so much Kakashi baka-sensei for teaching Sasuke-teme that) was missing, intact even his shirt was intact. His brow furrowed something was off… missing… his hands reached down and he pulled up his shirt revealing… nothing, the skin was unmarked. His eyes widened further, as he looked around him. He seemed to be in some strange endless void, he was floating somehow, although that was hard to tell as anywhere he looked was completely black. "What the hell?"

"NO, NOT HELL." The blond shinobi jumped, his limited but still existent training kicking in as he reached for a kunai and spun around to face the threat.

It was a massive robed figure, it's form seemed final, and dark. It's presence was unnerving as though it was giving off some form of killing intent, one that was almost passive, but so immense that it made the fur ball seem like a five year old girl crying about the boo-boo on her knee. "NO… YOU COULD CALL THIS PLACE… LIMBO." The voice was chilling, and echoed in a manner no voice had a right to.

"Who are you?" More powerful aura then the Kyuubi or not, Naruto was still Naruto, and little things like encountering a massive otherworldly being had long since stopped scaring him, Sakura mad, that scared him. He suppressed a small shutter at that thought.

"I AM SHINIGAMI THE DEATH GOD, AND I AM HERE TO PLACE MY SENTENCE UPON YOU." the figured continued in a booming monotone

Oddly enough no outburst came. "So he did kill me… I was hopping it was some stupid dream. Kinda silly of me I guess." He wasn't afraid; a sort of grim recondition no one his age was bared across his face "What happened afterward?"

"YOU TRULY WISH TO KNOW? IT IS NOT PLEASANT."

Naruto nodded the look of determination growing. "Yes."

"SASUKE UCHIHA MADE IT TO THE HIDDEN VILLAGE OF SOUND, WERE AFTER A FEW YEARS OF TRAINING WAS POSESSED BY THE SOUL OF OROCHIMARU. AFTER THAT A SECOND WAR BROKE OUT BETTEEN SOUND AND LEAF, THE DISTRUCTION OF THE LEAF WAS THE RESULT. MOST OFYOUR FRIENDS FELL IN THAT WAR, THE FIFIT HOKAGE TSUNADE MANAGEDING TO CALL ON ME AND KILL HER FORMER COMRAD WHILE THE FROG HERMIT SACRAFICED HIMSELF TO DISTRACT HIM."

Naruto closed his eyes a week smile to his face "She really was a true hokage… wait you said most of my friends?" there was some hope that a few survived.

"THE JONIN HATATE KAKASHI DIED IN A EARLYER SKIRMISH AGAINCED THE ATASUKI, AND HYUUGA HINATA DIED ATEMPTING TO AVENGE YOU SHORTLY AFTER YOUR DEATH WAS ANOUNCED."

"Hinata? Didn't see that coming…" he suddenly felt a great deal of regret for ignoring her so much. "So, what now?"

The monolith figure of Shinigami paused "THAT IS WHERE THINGS BECOME INTERESTING… DEVINE BEINGS ARE SUBJECT TO RULES, JUST AS MORTALS ARE. SOME ARE THE SAME, OTHERS DIFFERENT, SOME MORE EXTREME OTHERS LESS. THE SEAL YOU BARE MARKS YOU, IT MAKES YOU MY CHOSEN."

The blond raised an eyebrow "Chosen? What do you meen?"

The death god paused wondering how to word this. "I AM YOUR PATRON, IF THAT MEANS ANYTHING TO YOU. I AM THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU. AS I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SEAL YOU BARE. YOUR LIFE WAS ONE OF SUFFERING, OF ENDLESS BETRAYAL AND PAIN. KARMA DEMANDS I REPAY YOU FOR THIS."

Naruto thought it over "I think I get it, but aren't you a little late, I meen I'm kinda dead, your shot at repayment looks like it was just Chidoried to hell."

"PERHAPS… THINK YOUNG ONE. I AM THE GOD OF DEATH, IT'S RULER. AS SUCH AT THIS MOMEMENT I HAVE THE MOST INFLUENCE."

The blond nodded "Makes sense. So what can you do?"

Shinigami waved one massive hand, and in its wake an image wavered into insistence. "I WOULD OFFER YOU SAFE PASSAGE INTO THE AFTERLIFE, BUT GIVEN YOUR NATURE THIS SEEMS MORE APPROPRIATE PENANCE." Through the gate he could now make out a form, Kyuubi, free and attacking Konoha "A SECOND CHANCE. A BETTER CHANCE." A massive figure that he recognized as Gamabunta with a blond haired figure on it.

Naruto was spell bound by the image, before shaking his head, and looking at the grim reaper. "What do you meen?"

"THIS WORLD WILL PROGRESS AS YOU REMEMBER IT, WITH THREE DIFFERENCES… GIFTS YOU COULD SAY." The fight was picking up, and he knew what would happen soon.

"Gifts?" Naruto found his eyes locked on the battle once more.

"TOOLS THAT WILL AID YOU IN MAKING YOUR OWN FATE. ONE OF BODY, ONE OF MIND, AND ONE OF SPIRIT." The blond motioned him to continue, blue eyes locked dead fast on the image of the hokage. "THE FIRST WILL BE THE BIRTH RIGHT DENYED BY MY MEDDLING, ANY TIME IT WOULD HAVE ACTIVATED THE KYUUBI'S RAGE INTERFERED. AN ADVANCED BLOODLINE THAT WILL TRIGGER FROM THE KILLING INTENT OF THE DEMON DESTINED TO BE JAILED WITH IN YOU, AND THE PAIN OF THE SEAL ITSELF. THE SECOND IS YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR FIRST LIFE, ALTHOUGH THIS WILL LOSE VALUE AS YOU ALTER THE PATHS OF THOSE AROUND YOU. AND THE FINAL GIFT… I WILL TELL YOU OF AT A LATER DATE. YOU MAY CALL ON ME WHEN THAT TIME COMES. YOU WILL KNOW IT NOT WITH YOUR MIND, BUT WITH YOUR HEART. DO YOU ACCEPT THESE TERMS?"

The blond looked up at etheric entity before him. "I agree… they might hate me, but you're right. I can't abandon them." He gave a foxy grin "What kind of Hokage would I be then?"

If possible you could detect a small smirk to the dark gods voice "NOT A VERY GOOD ONE. COME, YOU SHALL PASS ALONG WITH I AS HE SUMMONS ME."

Naruto grinned and walked through the 'gateway' only to have that smile turn to screams of agony as he suddenly felt his stomach explode in pain, a white clad figure rest his weakening hand on his suddenly very small body. Blue eyes looked down into his now crimson ones "Your mother would be proud… and I am too… Be strong for them… son…" with that his eyes dulled. Leaving a child screaming, seal visible to the world, sharingan eyes crying.

OK I wanted to do the Shinigami's in bold, however is being several rude things I am not permitted to say with my current rating (yes that excessive in the swearing). I'm sorry that it is not. I made several attempts, but all ended up being for naught. I'll likely have to do Kyuubi's lines in the same way. If anyone knows how to handle this problem please inform me and I will make my best shot.

Well there's the prolog… the first few chapters are going to be kinda summative in nature, I hope to have him to the age of 12 (AKA out of the academy) in the first three chapters, so excuse the rushed style. Reviews and flames welcome, constructive criticism valued above all, but keep in mind I already have the story down, I'm just converting and tweaking it at this point.

Next chapter should be out by Friday.


	2. Revelations

**Authors note: Should have mentioned this, I'm a wee bit of a dyslexic… so sorry for the spelling errors,** I just got a beta, and as some of you have noticed the prologue has being edited So three cheers for Konjer- The Double Enigma!

Additionally I would like to apologize for the whole unoriginalness of Naruto's barring of the Sharingan… I did this actually not for the power boost it gives (Which is not actually as significant as you think considering the enemies he primarily fights use uncopyable justu, and the fact that he will NOT be reaching Magenko with it, fully mature at a early age, yes, through many years of practice, but not the infamous kaleidoscope) but mainly for the plot abilities. The Sharingan marks him as a Uchiha, a member of the most respected clan of the Village of the leaves, and while he will hide it for now, it will act as the proof he needs to win over a few people. It will also play a massive role the drama aspect. And will actually enable him to improve his abilities. Although how will not be revealed until the next chapter (although if you have two brain cells to rub together you can likely figure it out) Most of these things won't relay kick in until chapter two through four anyway…

Disclaimer: I own nothing if you want to give me something then yay for me!

Revelations

Naruto was rather surprised to find out that the Sarutobi himself was his caretaker for the first few years… apparently no orphanage would take him in. He never knew how much he owed the old man so much. He tried to be as little of a problem as possible. Although he did scare the old man senseless when he flared his sharingan, in his presence. It was interesting, holding it drained his reserves fast, but the drain lessened with each burst. By two he could hold it for almost twenty minuets, although it was still only barring a single comma. He found that though it he could see things in high detail, even if they were moving incredibly fast, he could also pierce genjutsu like a basic henge. He had one chance to copy a jutsu with it once, but didn't. It seemed he needed two to do that. Once a man that looked like an older version of Itachi or Sasuke that had to be the head of the Uchiha clan. He was tempted to use his 'gift' then but a few choice words of the man dispelled that notion before it even had a chance to take root.

Mid way through his third year he was moved to a new orphanage, the first place he could remember from his original memories. It actually wasn't that bad, the man that ran it was a civilian that moved here from Grass Country. He was one of the few people that didn't look at him with fear, although he did have to distance himself from the container in order to maintain his business. He was a little curious as to Naruto's apparent intelligence. Few 2.5 year olds could hold an intelligent conversation. It was through his next year at the place that he learned the most he ever had about the world around him. The caretaker a man known as Kira told him of many things out side the shinobi arts, the basics of physics, some mathematics, some cooking (alright some fun little snack foods), and even a little history, that he somehow made interesting! Still there was something wrong about this bout of happiness… the looks that came to him would occasionally glance to Kira now and then… by his third birthday he couldn't take it any longer.

"Kira-sama?" the blond looked up at his caretaker, the man was a bit taller then average, with not quite short, and not quite long brown hair and brown, almost black eyes.

Said man smiled down at his favorite charge. "Yes Naruto? Why so formal?"

"Kira… I have a few things to tell you… a few secrets… I can take the glares, but you shouldn't have to." He shook his head

The man frowned slightly "What do you meen Naruto?"

The boy closed his eyes "On my stomach there is a seal, one designed to contain to bind one soul to another… to cage something in another being. By merely living I act as its jailer… It's a seal that can only be placed at birth, so that the host's chakra coils can adapt and grow around it… It's a seal to hold a demon."

Kira had an eyebrow raised "Is that so? And what demon do you hold?" he didn't really believe him. He could tell that.

"It's a seal to hold the Kyuubi No Kitsune… the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. A law was put into place so that no one but me is allowed to talk about it." He reached down and drew up his shirt, channeling some chakra, as it always did the seal manifested.

The older mans eyes opened wide "You're not joking."

"No… I'm not, and that's not all. I have a family, although they don't know I am related to them." His eyes opened and they were red, one with one comma mark in it, another with two.

"Those eyes…" he murmured "I've seen them before, at the Uchiha compound… You're a Uchiha aren't you?"

He nodded "On my mothers side… Kyuubi triggered it, although it's asleep right now." the sharingan faded back to his normal sapphire blue. "Got the hair and eyes from my dad… to my knowledge only I know who he is."

Kyra raised an eyebrow again Naruto knew why, after all he was a smart guy. "And how do you know that if no one else dose?"

Naruto sighed "Do you know how the Sharingan eyes work?"

"No… I don't know many things about how shinobi work." The older man seemed a little confused.

"They let the wielder instantly memorize anything they see, track fast objects, as well as see Chakra, and the more evolved form with three marks can hypnotize people on eye contact… My eyes were activated by the Kyuubi and the memory of that event will forever be burned into my memories… the memory of my father telling me how proud he was of me, and to be strong… right as he died from the strain of sealing the demon into me." He looked at the monument in the distance. "I'm doing my best… but it's hard." He shook his head before looking at the man once more. "I need to leave here Kira, not Kohona, but this place. You've being nothing but nice to me, and because of that you're getting the hateful looks I do."

The older man was somewhat stunned, this was a hell of a bombshell to drop, scratch that volley of bombshells. "Naruto…"

"Dam it, I can look after myself! You taught me more then enough to survive… and I need to do this." He started out angry, but ended up just sad. "I need to become stronger. I can't do that here." He looked back up eyes determined "Don't you see that? I don't want to leave Kira-san, but I have to."

There was silence for a moment. "Where will you go?"

"The old man Hokage will have a place… I need to talk to him about some stuff anyway." He offered a small smile "Like how I'm going to take his job soon!"

The smile was mirrored "Theirs no way I can talk you out of this is there?"

Naruto shook his head still grinning. "Afraid not."

He sighed "I just don't know what to do with you Naruto... Just remember, you'll always have a place here."

"I'll remember that!" he grinned, and with that he ran off towards the tower. He had to talk to the old man…

(Seen Brake)

Sarutobi was filing paperwork in his office when a grinning blond, stepped into the room, his current caretaker standing by his side. Despite the massive difference in height, it was clear who was leading this little expedition.

"Old man, we need to talk."

Authors note: and that raps up this chapter, the next one should be out at some time or another… Naaa I'm just screwing with you.

"What is it Naruto?" he looked at the pare.

"I need a flat…" the shinobi lord raised an eyebrow.

Kira took a step forward "Naruto has designed to move out." he shot a look at the boy "We know he is rather young, but he is capable."

The third's brow remained in place. "Is that so?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he contemplated the situation "Kira, I need to talk to the old man alone."

Both of the older men turned to look at him the brunet asking "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it will make it easier." Naruto nodded tacking on an all to familiar serious look.

"Alright then…" he was obviously a little uncertain, while the Hokage himself seemed to be growing curious.

As Kira left the blond turned back to Sarutobi. "Old man you know what I am… both my real name and my burden."

The old man drew another puff from his pipe "Indeed, although I am curious as to how you do."

"I would think that is obvious." His eyes flared red with the sharingan "It was activated when the seal was placed… that image will always be burnt into my mind, just as every other one I is when I use them."

The third though about it "I assume this is the reason behind your 'maturity?'"

The blond nodded, grinning inwardly, who needs to lie? Show people a few incomplete facts, and they'll make up there own conclusions. "I can also speak a few languages… picked up one jutsu as well." He then preformed a henge. Once more he hadn't lied, he had picked up a jutsu, the grand fireball, although he didn't have the reserves to use it yet.

"I see… I still don't understand why you want to move out?" 'The Professor' continued as the youngster dropped the henge and his dojutsu, brow sweating from the strain.

"They're glaring at Kira-san now… I can take the looks Old man, but I won't let someone else pay for my burden. I also need to get stronger, and a kid training in a orphanage would look weird wouldn't it?" he was giving his best foxy grin.

The old mans brow raised once more "Is that so?"

"Yep!" the blue eyed boy nodded "And I got good resons."

"Oh, would you care to enlighten me?" he leaned back, taking another draw on his pipe.

"Ok! You see I got it all figured out! I'm going to be the Hokage like you are! Everyone respects you, so if I become the Hokage they will respect me!" The lost Uchiha had a fire in his eye that would make a certain bushy eyed Jonin rant about youth in envy.

"Is that it?" the Sandiame had an amused look to his face, remembering another blue eyed blond.

Naruto looked down "Well… Theirs one other thing… Dad wanted me to be strong for them…" he shook his head "I… I know I never really knew him, and because of him my life is going to be hell, but he was my dad." He looked up real tears to his eyes, though they did not shed. "I want to do this for him. the best way I can figure to do that is become Hokage."

The smile had faded into a thoughtful look. "Are you certain of this?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation.

"I can not in good continence just let a three year old, even one of your… abilities… go out onto the world on his own." He paused "Still… you raise a few good points, ones surprising from one as young as you, which in itself says much." He got to his feet slowly. "I'll compromise with you on this. If you can prove yourself self sufficient then you can go out on your own. There is a small apartment I own that I never really use." Actually there were several for such occasions similar to this one… "I will appoint you a small allowance. If you make it through the inter month with out returning to the orphanage for help, or running out of money, it is yours, and I will continue the allowance."

"You got yourself a deal old man!" the blond grinned, confidence poring out of him in waves.

Ok for real this chapter is done now. I hope you liked it. The next one will show up who knows when.


	3. Growing up Part 1

Author's Note: Okay here's the next chap, don't expect them to come this rapidly from now on, this was a special event. Now, I've heard some comments on Naruto's maturity. Before you immediately point fingers theirs two things I'd like to point out. Number one is this Naruto is older, he's had more time to consider the world at large, even if it's from a child's body. The second is that I'm of the strong belief that the immaturity and stupidity he exhibits are for the most part a mask. Don't forget Naruto mastered a version of the Rasengan in a few weeks from the water balloon, to drilling Kabuto into the ground. He also learned a high level Kin-Jutsu in a matter of hours! And we can't forget the matter of his little strategy aganced Zabuza the first time they encountered him… I might also add that in many fights or times when he needed to act serious, he did, this time he needs to act serious for a long amount of time, he has to get stronger so that he can look after his friends, and make shure what happened before doesn't happen again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did wouldn't this be a Manga?

Growing up Part 1

It was a surprise to the Hokage that the young boy won their little wager. The boy in question was doing fairly well, mostly through liberal use of Henge. Not through use of his patented Sexy No Jutsu but rather but rather through a few simple alterations to his normal appearance. Brown hair and eyes, different clothing, no whiskers, and altering his skin tone to a deeper tan or a pale reminiscent of the more aristocratic clans and only those that knew him well would recognize him. Shinobi were not allowed to use Jutsu on the civilian populace, but then again Naruto wasn't even an academy student yet officially. As such he was not bound to there rules… yet. Still the lost Uchiha was careful, to avoid the Uchiha, Hyuuga and those clans baring enhanced senses of sent. He didn't want his abilities made public yet.

It was tempting… one flash of his sharingan at the right time, and poof, instant family. It was a pipe dream at best and he knew it. Even if they did take him in, they'd kill him in his sleep. There was a small chance of them excepting him, but it was too faint to consider. Added to that they were all about to be massacred… that was what was really getting to him. They were all about to die and he couldn't do a thing about it! Damn Sasuke-teme and his brooding! The 'last' Uchiha was so tight lipped about what happened to his family, he didn't even know the date. He had plans, but didn't have half of the information to put them into action. Just one little number and word and he could save them! He had already concocted methods of luring ANBU, various clan members, and hopefully some Chunin and Jonin to the seen to intercept his crazed relative. Others to lure many of the doomed clan away and at least prevent a total genocide, but no… He didn't know when to put any of them into action, he had even figured out how the bastered had done it.

The Irony was that Itachi probably couldn't pull it off in any other 'Lesser' clan. What he did was simple really; he just exploited one of the Uchiha's most subtle weaknesses.

Through experimentation with his own eyes, and remembering past fights that involved those that bore the ocular blood-limit, he had determined the four major weaknesses to his bloodline. The first was glaringly obvious, and that was Hi-Jutsu, the sharingan was barely worth the energy it consumed against those that held a bloodline of there own, or otherwise uncopyable attacks. Sasuke's fights with Haku and Gaara had proven that. The second was speed. The sharingan could speed up your perception of your enemy, mimic his moves, and predict his next attack, but all that was useless if your body was to slow to keep up with them. The third was a bit more subtle, but still a major problem. Chakra, those that held the infamous crimson eyes needed massive reserves, preferably around twice their opponents. The sharingan didn't seem to drain to much energy, but with constant use you could find yourself tired out very fast. In addition to that, the fighting style of most Uchiha tended towards near constant use of Nin or Gen Jutsus, the eyes themselves preventing any short recovery of reserves between attacks, and you swiftly saw how draining such battles were.

Itachi was fast, one of the fastest fighters he had ever heard of, and his stamina was on par with a demon host's, but the key to his victory in the Uchiha massacre lay in more then simply overpowering them with the conventional weaknesses. No Itachi pulled off the slaughter using the fourth and most subtle weakness of the clan itself. Uchiha always, Always made eye contact with there opponent. This was to make best use of there hypnotic abilities but also left them open for a more aggressive eye based attack, such as Killing Intent or another Hi-Jutsu… namely a more evolved sharingan. All the weasel needed was to either take his time between fights, not a problem as he could take out an opponent before they got a word out, and carry a few solder pills on him and he was set.

He had two major goals to accomplish before he entered the academy, and one seemed to be undoable. The other still showed promise however, and he would be dammed if he didn't pull it off. The kidnapping attempt on Hyuuga Hinata had killed a man, broken a young girls will, and branded a life of misery to a boy barely older then himself. If he could pull this off maybe the stubborn prick would be less of a jackass, and Hinata herself might be a little less timid… well hopefully.

His frustration over the Uchiha situation drove him in his training, and the results showed. In one year he was cable of more then he was in his Genin days… well in technique anyway. He had raised his Sharingan to level 2 in both eyes. The Rasengan was nearly useable again; he just needed to up his reserves some more. He could pull off a shadow clone sealess with enough concentration, and had gotten replacement down to a single hand seal. He had a plan for those two, it was ambitious, but because he had the time to work it out he might as well at least try. Both justu were useful even if his plan failed anyway. The grand fireball he copied was mainly acquired as a test for his eyes, but he still got it to three seals. You never knew when you would need a ranged attack. Henge, or rather Kazehenge as he had discovered it actually was, seemed to be his most successful jutsu; sealess and soundless he had become a practical shape-shifter, only higher level genjutsu specialists or those barring enhanced senses would spot what he was. It was with those shape-shifting skills that he managed to live a life much more comfortable then he had the first time around. Likewise his stamina and control were great. His reserves weren't up to his Genin days, but they were upper Chunin, and unlike last time his control was actually well above average. His best guess as to how he managed to do so well on what was always his worsed front was simple. His body had less chakra, so it was easier to get a hold of. In his first life by the time he was thought _any_ form of chakra control his reserves were already mid to upper Jonin. It was always an up hill battle because of that. This time he was practicing his control in little ways ever since his _Birth_. He was also fairly certain that his stamina was likely higher then it was last time around, he was just using much more draining exercises.

Under a tree, after doing such exercises, he found himself completely spent. He did a quick estimate of his rate of growth. He would likely be at Ero-Senin's level in raw power, and better at control by the time he graduated, if he became a shinobi the same time this time around anyway. He was still debating that. If he entered early he could possibly graduate by the same time Kakashi sensei or Itachi managed it. But if he did that, he would likely never meet his friends again, those of Kohona would fear him more then they did. And most important of all… he would be a registered shinobi of Kohona, and no longer exempt of the laws he was bypassing now. More importantly, he remembered how Neji's dad had died. In the fight aganced Hinata's kidnapper he might kill the man. And while there were after the Bakugan, the odds they would want his own Sharingan as a consolation prize were too great. If he was a civilian, they couldn't give him up. In fact Cloud would be in an even worse position. Sure one of theirs would be slain. But it would have being by a civilian, while attempting to kidnap another civilian, both children at that! Cloud would be a laughing stock, and they would have no grounds to declare war… If he survived the encounter. At that thought his wariness was forgotten and he channeled chakra to his feet once more, sprinting up the tree from a laying position, hands flashing the seals for the grand fireball. He would be ready… he had to be.

It happened a few days later. Under transformation he was gathering supplies, fruits, veggies, bread, milk, and of corse raman. He also snagged some Shinobi Food bars. They were cheap and they had all the nutrients you needed for a few days. The only reason he didn't buy them the first time around was because the owner tossed him out before he could get in. The produce venders ether did the same or over charged him for the worsed grade products. He had money to spare this time around. So he bought these. They'd last for decades and he knew once he could no longer disguise himself he wouldn't get a chance to get any more. He'd tried one. It tasted crappy, and he needed to down a glass of milk along with it to be able to force it down. But it held true to it's advertisement. He hadn't felt hungry all day, even after training. He had almost a year's worth in a backpack. If all else he had his options… He shook his head, he didn't want to think about that. As he left the shinobi surplus store he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A newspaper. A major member of the police force had being murdered. He was an Uchiha, Something of the Mirage. It was in one of those dammed box dispensers, so he didn't see the first name, still he could read part of the opening paragraph '…Was found by his best friend…acting commander of ANBU Corps…Killer unknown and still at large…' The acting commander of the ANBU was Uchiha Itachi… found by his best friend? It clicked "Mengenko." He murmured. Then took off at a dead sprint for the Hokage Tower, attracting the attention of more then one person while doing so.

The secretary was more then a little surprised when a young brown haired boy entered the tower said a few rapid and garbled worlds and then plowed through the room in seconds the two Chunin guards thrown to each side. Blinking she hit the intercom "Uh… Hokage-sama? You have a visitor." She wasn't that worried, he might have rushed in, but there wasn't a ounce of killing intent coming out of him, and to be honest they got at least three visitors like that a day.

"Old man… we have to talk." It was a statement, coming from anyone else it would be near insubordination.

It took a moment for the third to realize who was talking to him "Naruto?"

The nondescript boy blinked, then widened his eyes "Whoops, sorry forgot about the disguise." In a small puff of smoke he turned back to his normal form. He looked sheepish for a moment, before once more becoming all business "What do you know about the Sharingan?"

The old man leaned back, remembering the last time he had talked with the boy in front of him. Naruto, it seemed, was one of those tragic few that grew up far to fast. And he had a way with hiding the full truth… he was a bit of a mystery. If experience served there was a point to this "Enough… it's the Uchiha bloodlimit, crimson in color. It allows the wielder to copy Nin-Jutsu, see through Gen-Jutsu. In it's mature state it can hypnotize, and predict the movements of it's holders opponents. The level of it is determined by the comma like markings on the iris, to a maximum of three… why do you ask?"

"There are four." The blond said simply.

The old man's brows narrowed "What was that?"

"There are four levels to the Sharingan. There is a forbidden highly evolved form that allows it's wielders immense hypnotic powers, and access to devastating Hi-Jutsu, and seems to invokes a descent into madness… A level reached by the mental stress of killing your best friend." His eyes hardened "It's called the Mengenko Sharingan, and it's the most devastating optical bloodline that I have ever dreamed could exist. To this date there is only one wielder alive… Uchiha Itachi."

Sarutobi had closed his eyes; he had gone through the clues Naruto was offering, actually mouthing the name in synch with Naruto. "Are you curtain?"

"I swear it on my fathers sacrifice…" he sighed and finally looked away "Look, I know my word isn't worth much, and that Itachi has done a lot for our village… but just have some Jonin keep a watch on the Uchiha complex. They hate my guts, and wouldn't take me in even if they did know I was one of them, but there the only family I have. Even if they never know I'm doing it, I have to watch out for them."

"Aren't you a little young to have the fate of an whole clan resting on your shoulders?" the elder ninja asked taking a drag on his pipe as he let the thoughts run through his head.

"Your telling me…" he mumbled to himself before answering aloud "I still have to do what I can."

The old man paused "Very well, I will arrange for a few people I trust to watch over the complex for the next two months… But this had better not be a prank Naruto." The boys answering grin was almost worth all the paperwork this would cause.

"Thanks old man! I'll remember this when I take over. You'll have the easiest retirement ever!" grinning like he had just won the lottery, he retransformed, surprising the hell Hokage with the level of skill demonstrated. Before the elder man could ask however, he had already left.

Taking another puff from his pipe the old man smirked "Interesting indeed…" he pressed down on the intercom button "Get me Miso Gai."

The massacre happened two days later… this time however ANBU and select Jonin forces, along side the Hokage himself were already on the seen moments after the first chakra spike. The specifics for the most part of the conflict that followed were not revealed to the public, but the results were known to all. The entire military police force slaughtered, the counsel destroyed, aside from that all of the original two hundred thirty some Uchiha, there were now less then fifty still alive. Of what was once considered Kohona's strongest bloodline, only 21 sharingan still spun, one a gift from a dying friend, two unknown to the world, and two more covered in the blood of the bares family. Of the eight Uchiha left with the active limit, five were retired, and one more resigned to help take care of the remaining clan members, who were primarily children. The threat of the dreaded Crimson eyes of Kohona had all but faded out of existence… But unlike in his first life the ashes of the clan still smoldered… and with patience, the winds of time would bow new life into it. Resurrecting the fabled flame wielders from there own ashes.

Still… the weight of his 'failure' held it's grip hard on the lost Uchiha. At the funeral, his eyes would occasionally flare up, even though it was covered buy his standard henge. There was a chance someone would see through it… the Hyuuga were present, well… a few of them… as were every last remaining members of the Uchiha clan, but it was a time of solace… No chakra flared, aside from his own, at his frustration as failing so badly tore into him with every name read.

That night he mastered the shadow clone technique sealess, and with it the Rasengan… as several former trees could contest to… by the end of the night he was to tired to move… He was left to his thoughts.

"Damn you Teme. If I had known that day, if you had opened up just a little bit… I could have saved them all… Damn you." He barely had enough energy left to seal his wounds before he passed out, under a lone standing tree, in the middle of the devastated remains of the training grounds.

The Demon of Kohona awoke to the 'gentle' sounds of a rather loud rant on 'the sprint time of use' "Oh no… Not him." Sharingan eyes shot open in a glare, which backed by the ever-present traces of yoki in his system and his own dojutsu, flared to a level that would make Zabuza proud. "Could you shut up… I'm not in the mood." The red eyes faded back to blue.

"As such is obvious Uzumaki Naruto… or should I say Uchiha Naruto?" smirked the green beast of Kohona, in one of those… unique… poses of his.

The blond was half way up when Gai mentioned his mother's legacy. Hearing that he promptly fell flat on his ass. "What the hell do meen by that?"

"Your sharingan activates under emotional stress. It flared just now, and it did at the funeral last night." He adopted a 'lecture' pose "Fankly I'm surprised that more people don't know about your heritage. Although after last night that might not be so much the case. I'm certain I'm not the only one that noticed them yesterday." He switched to a 'thoughtful' pose. "Most would consider it foolish to enter an area with so many who could discover your identity. Then again… only trash would abandon their friends or family."

"They weren't friends… but they were family." He scowled "Not that it mattered, They would never have accepted me, the old man of the Uchiha even told the third that he should just smother me in my crib once." He shook his head "They wouldn't take me in even now that most of them are dead."

"Despite your best efforts…" Gai shot a smirk.

"What do you meen" blue eyes narrowed

Gai laughed "Who do you think was assigned to observe Itachi? I was a little curious about the 'informant' that would dare accuse the prodigy of the Uchiha clan. I must say I'm impressed. I know Chunin that aren't as capable as you. And you haven't stolen every thing in site with those eyes of yours, even though your transforming skills would make it rather easy. In fact it looks like you even developed an original attack! Your hard work and dedication are on par with my own pupils!" at this point he had shifted to the 'power of youngish' position, but he changed again once more to 'curious' "What Pledges my curiosity however is why? Why do you work so hard? Are so dedicated to becoming a warrior? What drives you to burn so hard?"

Naruto looked down, he didn't know what to say, 'I do it so my friends that died in my first life won't die in this one!' accurate perhaps, but not something he could advertise… But why else? Should he trust Gai? He was weirder then a hyperactive sloth, but a useful ally, and a good man that would do what is right no mater the odds. Viewing him holistically rather then just his personality quirks it became easy to see why Rock Lee patterned himself on the man.

Then it hit him, the blond looked up eyes burning just short of activating the Sharingan. His decision was made. "I work hard so that I can become Hokage! To make sure this never happens again! So people will acknowledge me as me and not the Kyuubi! So I can be strong and protect this village like my father before me! So no one will ever have to live a life like mine again!" the sharingan activated of it's own accord "And I won't let anyone or anything stop me!"

Gai was teary eyed at the display of 'passionate youth' "Yoshi! To have such lofty goals, and the drive and ability to actually reach them! To burn with such a fire that can not be ignored! I must help you on your quest to become Hokage!"

Naruto's eyes widened in genuine surprise "You meen you'd really help me? Just like that?" his hand wondered to his stomach, or more precisely the seal place upon it.

Gai nodded "I know of the burden you carry, but I do not hold it aganced you. If anything the fact that you wish to help the village despite knowing what it has done to you makes you even more worthy of any help I can offer!"

The Kyuubi's container grinned "Really? No Joke? Cool! Are you going to show me some kick ass ninja skills? I know some kick ass Ninjutsu! My Gen-Jutsu's kinda lame except for Henge, but I'm half descent with Tai-Jutsu… I don't know any Ken-Jutsu aside from the basic shuriken and kunai stuff though."

"Well your in luck then!" he grinned "I might not be the authority on Gen-Jutsu, but I am good friends with one of the local weapon merchants, and happen to be Kohona's undisputed Tai-jutsu master!" he shifted back to thoughtful "My training will be difficult. Even with your stamina your days will be trying. Once we start we can not stop until you are an unbeatable weapon… are you sure your up for it?" his eyes were burning with barely controlled anticipation.

The blond grinned, half tempted to say no just to see the look on the mans face. "Of corse I am! I'm going to be Hokage one day aren't I?"

The Jonin jumped "Then let's get started! I want you to run two hundred laps around the village!"

The blond sweat dropped "Right now? What about breakfast?"

The green beast of Kohona blinked "After your warm up of corse."

Naruto facevaulted 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…'

Gai grinned to himself 'Another protege, perhaps he'll make Lee a good sparing partner… I wonder were I can get green spandex for someone that small…'

Author's Note: Well that's this chapter… or rather the first half of this chapter, done. The next one, next Friday is what I'm aiming for, but no promises. The chapters will come as they come. The faster they do the smaller they'll be and the worse quality, so I'm not going to rush, sorry. I hoped you liked this, reviews appreciated but not necessary.

Beta's Note: Sorry if there are any mistakes left! I didn't have a whole lot of time to look this over. (So much for beta reading –sob-. Don't chew the writer out for it though! If you gotta yell at someone, yell at the magnificent delinquent that is myself, KONJER! (The Double Enigma). Peace out ya'll.


	4. Growing up Part 2

Authors notes: Yo, here's chapter three… or is it chapter 2B? Whatever, ether way he it is. This chapter was a little tricky, as I had to produce a few Raiton jutsu. Now I lunched an extensive search for such techniques, but aside from the Chidori and the one med. jutsu that messes up your nerves I couldn't find any. As such I made some up. Now I tried to translate these to Japanese as well… with much failure… as such all Techniques will be in English. I'm also taking a stab at bold again. Thanks for anyone who offered corrections to my rather abysmal spelling. I do run all these through word, but theirs only so much I can do I'm afraid. If you hate the errors that much then e-mail me a corrected version, I'll put it up in a flash.

Disclaimer: he he he, Naruto is Mine **Mine **I Say! (looks at evil demon lawyers) Or not… (shutters) holy hell… there scarier then the Kyuubi could ever hope to be.

Kyuubi: Don't compare me to those monsters! (hides in his cage)

Growing up Part 2

The relationship between the two was an odd one, Every day Gai didn't have a mission the demon host would hunt him down and learn some basic Taijutsu, and occasionally some more advanced moves. During this time the blond refrained from using his sharingan. Even if Gai was showing the moves to him with the intent of him learning them, it didn't feel right to use the dojutsu on an ally, much less a teacher, or as Gai was swiftly becoming, a friend. Besides the knowledge of both how and why each move worked as it did what it did was also invaluable, and something most Uchiha didn't know. Now if only he could convince the man that No he would not, now or ever were green spandex!

On days that Gai did have missions, he spared with the mans other unofficial student Rock Lee. Just as was true in the first time around Lee was unable to use Nin or Gen Jutsu as he lacked many of the opening points most people had, and as such was limited only to internalizing his energy.

At nights on all days he would practice his jutsu, he hadn't really focus on his Sharingan, so it was still at it's current ability. He did get Replacement down sealess and soundless. He was still working on the Rasengan, he could form one with two hands now, but because of the shear drain of the attack he couldn't work on it much. He was hopping to get it down to one hand like Jiraiya could. The Grand fireball was a bit of an experiment for him. He didn't get it sealess, but he didn't want to leave himself venerable while using it. By bring it back to three seals he managed to pull of a trick he had seen once before in mist, half seals. He wasn't at the level were he was as strong as he needed to be, but he was happy with his improvements.

With Gai's help he had mastered channeling chakra to improve his speed and strength, as well as fortify his fists and body to take blows. This was of great value to him as his regeneration prevented him from building up calluses on his fists.

Lee would still kick his ass in an all Taijutsu fight, but it was a lot closer then most could manage. He was fairly certain if he used his Ninjutsu or sharingan he could win, but then again wining wasn't his objective, so he stuck to hand to hand.

When he turned 5 he debated entering the academy. In his first life he had entered at this age, a full two years earlier then most. He had dreamed of learning how to become a ninja early… as it was he barely managed to graduate on his third try, dead last among those his own age. This time around he knew he could graduate early, maybe even take the exam early like Kakashi and Itachi had. If he did that however his foreknowledge would be rendered all but useless to predict things, he wouldn't be in the right place or time to do what he wanted. Added to it he still needed to stop the kidnapping attempt on Hinata in a year. As a Genin or academy student he was part of the Kohona chain of common, and the village was responsible for his actions. Worse he would be considered an adult, so they could ask for his body in payment in place of Hiashi's. He was willing to bet his sharingan was as valuable to the cloud as the Hyuuga Bakugan. Once more it suited his needs better to be a civilian, so he would have to hold off becoming a true shinobi.

That was another mater, he was upper Chunin at best, and the kidnapper was a Jonin. He was much stronger then most his age could hope to be, but that wasn't enough! To beat a Jonin he would need one of three things, one was a curse seal; No, just no. It wasn't an option, period. To awaken Kyuubi somehow, and convince it to lend him it's strength… That was a long shot at best, so he needed to go with number three.

He confronted Gai about the gates. Initially Gai refused to teach him, stating how dangerous using the gates was. Naruto countered this demonstrating his regeneration to Gai. Even with that it took no small amount of effort to convince him. Still within six months he had already mastered two of the eight celestial body gates. It was at that time he started his weight training. Gai had explained that if he had attempted it earlier it could have stunted his growth, his healing factor might have countered it, but it wasn't worth the risk. He had also begun training his eyes once more. He wanted them fully mature by the time he confronted the cloud-nin, feeling the need for every edge he could get.

His spars with Lee were growing closer (The bushy browed six year old doubling his training regiment in response), and he had began sparing with Gai himself. Aganced the Jonin he held nothing back short of the Rasengan. He even unleashed a new technique. Combining his perfected Kage Bunshin and Kawarimi he had created a devastating form of transportation Jutsu when ever a clone showed up you could never tell which one was the original, as he could literally be anyone of them. You couldn't even tell he was gone after he telloported out of site using this method. When combined with the predicting abilities of the sharingan landing a blow on the blond was difficult for even the famous green beast. The score was 1/9 in Gai's favor, but the fact that he had won at all was astounding. Despite that the young man still trudged on. Others had being as strong as he was at this age, he needed to get stronger because they were still around now and had only become more powerful… He didn't know how strong the Cloud Nin would be, he did know he was very important in the Cloud chain of command, and Hashi himself took him out, possibly with assistance… Even with first strike, and the likely hood his opponent would underestimate him, he wanted to be stronger.

The day came thirteen days after his sixth birthday, a bad omen, but he could work with it. Oddly enough he had gotten actual gifts for that one. The first was a new set of weights from Gai, rather expensive ones too. The second was from an unknown, and was a technique scroll. The Jutsu was called Kage Shuriken/Kunai Bunshin. He had that technique down in under an hour, and perfected it in ten days, his complete mastery of normal shadow clones paying off greatly in that regard.

He had kept his ear to the streets for some signal. 'Peace talks' with hidden Cloud was all he needed to here before he started preparing, if they were ever going to make there move this year it would be now.

He packed up what he could, including a recent acquisition, a set of Kunai and Shuriken. He had picked them up to learn the new Jutsu. That done he headed off towards the woods around the Hyuuga complex for a 'camping/training' trip.

The first day he set up camp he made a quick scout of the perimeter, loosing a legion of shadow clones to better observe the area. In his 'free time' (the time the Hyuuga guard was at it's heaviest). It was at one of these times that a little… interruption to his 'operation' occurred.

The Lost Uchiha continued to spare with his clone, the two of them lashing out and ducking each other's blows at a fantastic rate. Given his mastery of all things Doppelganger He had elected for a close combat style that leaned towards evasion rather then blocking, for defense. A twig snapped and the blond whipped around, kunai drawn in a bare fragment of a second, to see… Hinata. The girl was hiding behind a tree a look of interest on her face.

He blinked, before relaxing his stance. "Uh, Hello?"

She hesitated for a moment before leaving her protected area "Um… Hi… Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto's the name, what's yours?" he studied her a bit, she shy, that much was obvious, but she wasn't completely timid.

"Hyuuga Hinata." She introduced with a bow, making Naruto snicker.

"You don't have to bow you know. Were just introducing ourselves, it's nothing formal." He grinned at her.

Red stained her cheeks "Sorry…" she seemed to steel herself "What are you doing here?"

The blond had already come up with a 'cover story'… basically he would tell selective truths, to make is sound like he had deduced it, and let them come up with the rest by themselves. "I'm here to scout for enemy shinobi! You can never be to careful with your enemy in your midst."

She blinked "Enemy?"

He nodded "There are like a tone of Cloud-Nins in the village, and we've had a cold war with them for practically forever!"

Her brow furrowed in though… making her irresistibly cute. "But aren't they hear to help end the war? It's peace talks right?"

Naruto nodded eyes closed and arms folded in his 'sagely' pose, he countered in his best 'authoritative' voice "That's true… that is why they _Say_ they are here. But their shinobi right? You have to look underneath the underneath. Cloud might just be scouting us out, or after something here. One of the best ways to steal something is with a false front. When I asked Gai-sensei about it, he told me that the thing Cloud wants and fears most is the Hyuuga Bakugan. I don't exactly know what that is, but I'm going to do my best to protect it from them! My plan is to guard the whole complex… I can make solid clones as you saw So it's not impossible for me ether!"

Hinata's eyes widened "There after the Bakugan?"

He nodded sagely, but grinned a second later, eyes open "Yep, but don't worry I'm going to protect it, and I'm really strong!"

She paused "You don't know what the Bakugan is?"

He shook his head "Nope. That's why I'm guarding the whole complex instead of just were ever you guys keep it."

He paused again, debating something "The Bakugan is my clan's bloodline. It's a Dojutsu." She was giving off waves of mixed curiosity and fear, wondering how he would react.

"A Dojutsu?" he asked eyebrow elevated "I should have guessed with the cool eyes you guys all got. Hey can I tell you a secret?" he was grinning and hyper, near bouncing on the spot.

The fear had fled the Hyuuga Heiress "What is it?"

"I got one too" he whispered it to her. He was taking a major gamble right now, but he knew she was trustworthy. And there was a significant chance she would see his eyes if he fought in her presence.

"A Bakugan?" she was confused, if he had the Bakugan then why were his eyes like that? And why didn't he know what it was?

"No a Bloodline limit." He explained

"Oh." She had heard of a small clan of blue eyed blondes with one. It's was a mind technique or something.

"Yep! It's a Dojutsu like yours too!" he was grinning from ear to ear at this point.

"Oh!" she hadn't expected that. "Can I see it?" curiosity pored off of her in waves.

He nodded and closed his eyes concentrating, when they opened again they were a bloody crimson, three comma shaped marks slowly spinning around each pupil. "Cool huh?" his voice was oozing smugness

Her own eyes were as wide as she could make them. She hadn't honestly expected him to have a bloodline, much less a Dojutsu. "What do they do?" she asked leaning in for a closer look.

The boy was a little nervous now, she was getting very close… "Um… I can see Chakra, and my perception of things is greatly enhanced, so I can see things in great detail from a distance no matter the speed it's moving at. I also automatically memorize anything I see with them, so combined with the other parts I can copy any Jutsu I see preformed. They also let me predict attacks, or people's movements to an extent, and I can even hypnotize with eye contact! It takes a lot of Chakra to do some of that for a long time though…" he looked at her "This is just between us right? No one else knows except old man Hokage, and the man that runs the Doton St. orphanage."

She was in awe of the blonde's bloodline, it was like a more… focused version of her own, more analytical, and aggressive. "Why do you want to hide it?" she was a little confused about that.

"Simple!" he grinned again "It's so I can surprise people!" the grin faltered a bit, before becoming a frown. "And because people will want my eyes like they want yours."

She gasped realizing the implications "They would?" it wasn't a real question and they both knew it.

He nodded again. "Yep… and I don't have a family to help protect them. I need to hide them until I can protect myself."

She was confused again, this boy was… interesting to say the least. "Wait, if you have a bloodline, then you should have a clan right? Unless you're the last of them…" dread filled her, what if he was the last? She didn't want to hurt her new friend by making him remember that, she hardly had any as it was!

He shook his head "No… there not dead. But I don't have a family. They were almost whipped out a bit back, but they don't want me."

Now she was angry. "Who would do that? Why would they just abandon you?" her own Bakugan activated out of rage.

"They had there resons… It sucks but it's ok. I kinda like being Uzumaki Naruto, being called Uchiha would just be weird… hey what's wrong?"

She pointed behind him. There was a sudden tingle on the back of his neck. He garbed the girl and jumped. A bolt of lighting striking the spot they were just standing on.

The pare landed Naruto releasing Hinata and standing protectively in front of her sharingan blazing aggressively.

A man stood there, about 6.2, wearing the standard jumpsuit and jacket of a Jonin. His eyes were an odd electric blue/white, hair a dark silver color, skin pale, and face seemingly fixed with an arrogant smirk. "What luck? I came looking for a Hyuuga, and find an Uchiha as well. Brother will be very pleased." His eyes narrowed as he unleashed a massive wave of killing intent, **Kanashibari **No jutsu.

Naruto glared at the man as the wave of killing intent flowed over them. That attack was nothing to the more then decade of silent glares, or the demons own murderous aura. The crimson eyes of the started spinning as he brought one hand up, slowly. "Not a chance!" he swiftly did three half seals "**Katon: Grand Fireball Technique!**" he inhaled and released a massive wall of flames "Hinata-chan, Run! I'll hold him off!"

The young Hyuuga had not fared as well as her protector, unused to such an assault. It was only the fact that he was standing between her and there attacker, actually fighting back that she managed to snap out of it. "H-Hai!" she was shaken, but still functional. "Nani? What about you?"

Another lighting bolt arched at them, Naruto creating a clone to take the hit. "I'll be fine! Go get help!" he shoot her a look, weaving a compulsion into her with his Dojutsu.

She nodded, still shaken from the attack, and swiftly took off towards the clan complex.

The Cloud-Nin snarled as his main target took flight. He flashed through five hand signs "No you don't, **Raiton: Stunning Shock Technique!**" he flared out his hand and lighting arched from his fingers. Another clone formed between him and his target, taking the assault for her.

The clone grinned as it convulsed "No Go Baka." It puffed into smoke

"I am your opponent." Naruto smirked "So let's keep this just between us shale we?" he did the same five seals the Jonin did earlier "**Raiton: Stunning Shock Technique!**" his own bolt of lighting struck true, shocking the man to unconsciousness, until he turned into a slightly charred log.

Seeing this Naruto generated another clone up in the tree cover, and swapped with it. A look of disbelief on it's face. Just as he expected not even a second after the swap his enemy appeared behind the doppelganger and struck it in a the neck. Disbelief on his face when it two puffed into smoke. "What the?" Naruto jumped out of his hiding spot high into the air

The Jonin's head looked up right as Naruto reached the apex of his flight. "Eat this! **Shadow Clone Bombardment Revised! Cold Steel Rain!**" With that he formed near a hundred clones, each of them drawing eight Kunai, and lunching them, each of those being further multiplied. Literal thousands of bits of pointed metal doom showered down on the wide-eyed Cloud-Nin.

The man was shredded into bloody ribbons, but when the suto-shinobi landed he didn't release ether his eyes or the clones. Dozens of crimson eyes tracked the area. One of them spotted an attack and as one all but one of the clones jumped out of harms way. Naruto switched with that clone right as the massive thunder dragon flew up and ripped into the mass of copies, dispelling them. The blond unleashed another fireball into the area the attack originated, and sure enough the Jonin jumped out avoiding the attack.

The man began another set of seals, as Naruto started mimicking him. "You best give up now brat, there's no way you can keep up with me for long. Luck those bloody eyes of yours are the only reason your still standing."

The younger fighter grinned flashing somewhat elongated K9's "Quit Yapping. I've fought Academy students stronger then you." While talking he locked eyes with him, pulling him into the blondes hypnotic gaze. The man distracted he formed another clone behind him mid jutsu and replaced with it, copying his own clones seals as it copied the mans. Twenty-eight seals done all three finished. Three voices ringing out "**Raiton: Thunder Dragon Missile!**" The Jonin was shocked and looked behind him. The clone having only completed half the seals needed, failed to generate anything, and was demolished by the thunder dragon. But the true Naruto's own was unleashed, free to attack the Cloud shinobi.

There was an explosion and when the smoke cleared, the Cloud-Nin was still standing. He had dodged the attack, but not completely. His side was badly scorched and one arm was ruined.

The two opponents glared at each other. "Dam you… No more joking around kid, screw capture I'll cut those eyes out of your cold dead face!" there was a blur of movement and the two joined in Taijutsu combat.

Naruto ducked and weave as best as he could, but despite only having one functional arm the Jonin was more experienced, a bit faster and a lot stronger then him. The demon host's sharingan and full use of his body, let him keep up, barely, but the silver haired man had greater reach, and was fast enough that any clone summoned was lucky to get a hit in before it was dispelled. Slowly but surely the blond was being pushed back.

Gritting his teeth the smaller fighter jumped back. "Ok, no more holding back eh? I can work with that** Initial Gate: Open!**" he dashed at the man so fast untrained eyes wouldn't even see him, striking him in the chest with sufficient force to send him flying.

The man hit a tree hard enough to crack it, but got back up, eyes glaring with hate "You think you can beat me you little Punk? Copy this!" his eyes flared with electricity, as did the rest of him "**Hijutsu: Living Lighting Form!**" that done he lashed out even faster, leaving an afterimage in his wake, as well as a sparking trail.

"Damn, **Heal Gate: Open!**" he flooded his limbs with chakra as he countered and struck. Each connection his or his opponents inflicting damage, his regeneration barely keeping up. A kick came at his head and he had to telloport again.

Naruto fell back switching to a totally defensive style. Even with both gates open he was losing, and he knew it. His reserves were depleting rapidly, though the other guy couldn't be much better in that department, he knew at this rate he'd drop in a minuet, maximum. He had to end this now, and there was only one technique in his arsenal that could do that. Plan set he replaced with another clone. Appearing on the other end of the clearing. Hands held together as he pulled on the last of his reserves, focussing, spinning it between his hands.

The Cloud Jonin took the opportunity to take a breather as he looked around for his target. What the hell was that kid? He had known that the Uchiha were dangerous, hell he had heard that one had made ANBU Caption before he was ten, he just hadn't put any stock into them. This whole situation was complete insane! Even if he was short for his age this kid couldn't be more then seven, eight tops and he was keeping up with him! ANBU would be here shortly… he had to finish this now. Screw the Sharingan, he needed to get his own ass out of there before he was cooked. He formed five half seals with his good hand. "**Hijutsu: Voltage Blades!**" he spotted the kid in the clearing. He was doing something weird. The brat was to strong of an opponent to let him finish what ever he was doing. In another burst of speed he lunched at the kid, twin foot long blades of lighting coursing off his arms, although one hung uselessly.

At this time Naruto's own technique was ready. He watched the incoming figure, and notably the attack prepped in his arm. It looked like some sort of slashing variant of the Chidori and likely just as lethal. He waited and waited, as the man got closer, the blade arched for his neck…

The Jonin grinned to himself the boy was too tired to move! All those high level Jutsu must have finally depeated his reserves! Her could do this! He lashed out to decapitate the red eyed demon in front of him… when something odd happened. As swift as he had always being the boy ducked his attack! He felt an odd pressure in his stomach… and looked down to see the base of what looked like a spinning ball of chakra "Wah…?"

"**Rasengan!**" Screamed the demon host, as he shoved the fourth's fabled assassination justu into his opponent's gut. The orb of tornado force winds drilled in with no effort, before suddenly expanding, ripping the man's insides apart and sending him flying back, nearly torn in half from the inside out.

The crimson-eyed boy panted, his sharingan barely spinning. There was a dull 'thump' behind him, and he whipped around steeling himself for another round even knowing he didn't have the energy for one. Instead of the arrogant Jonin there were several masked men barring Kohona headbands, ANBU.

With a slight smirk and a small laugh the boy let his eyes regress to there normal blue. "Took you long enough…" that said he slumped back and passed out on the ground. His last site, one of the men removing his mask, revealing pale Hyuuga eyes.

Authors second note: well there it is, the first real fight seen of the fic. I hope you action fans enjoyed it. Now I know that bloodlines seem rather common despite supposedly being rare as hell but I figured, hell he's the bleeding brother to a Kage!

(spoiler summery)

The next chapter should make much with the angstness as our hero try's to come to terms with his actions, and finally lets slip the beans to our favorite senior citizen. In addition it seems that everyone's favorite blond bouncing ball of hyperactive energy might not be as alone as he thought… Until the next time, See ya!


	5. Confessions and Family

Authors notes: Ok… no one apparently reads this, but I'll say it again. I am dyslexic, if you don't know what that is, it means that I have a learning disorder that greatly hinders my ability to read and write. I **DO** run this through a spell check program but even with that and more then just one look through for errors this is the best I am capable of OK? I have crappy spelling, I know this, and I've being working on it for the bulk of my life. I am actually proud I can get to this level… sorry, just needed to get that out. I did not meen any offence to those actually reading this. For the record, I know the timelines seems a little screwy, I have heard a few times and dates whipped at me at the event of the Uchiha massacre, and the Hyuuga kidnapping. I do not know which one is correct so screw it; I'll stick to what I wrote. If you disagree…um… it was because of the altered timeline that they delayed/sped up there schedules! Yah…that's right…

Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue!

Confessions and Family

His stay in the hospital was brief but notable… mostly because he had an actual guest, or rather two of them. Hiashi and Hinata showed up to thank him for saving her, the clan head grudgingly so, and the younger Hyuuga kept hiding behind her father blushing for some reason... It appeared he was sleeping for two days, more then one ANUBU showed up on the see to 'observe the target' before they revealed themselves. However apparently the leader of that little squad a Hyuuga Hizashi (who arrived a little late on the seen to do unspecified reasons) put his foot down, and the actual events were put down in the report. Unfortunately for him that included a summery of all attacks used. All his other Jutsu could be easily explained away with his habits of observing the training fields, and sharingan eyes. What couldn't be explained however was his finisher. The Rasengan couldn't be copied, nor was they're anyone (currently) in the village that knew it. He was going to have to talk to the old man about that.

By what he had heard it seemed that his assessment on the aftermath of his involvement was accurate save two things. Certain members of both the Hyuuga and ANBU knew of his abilities, including his Uchiha blood. That would find it's way through the grapevine soon enough, and would likely lead to trouble. The other thing was having a more direct effect on him. He had killed a man. He had fought him with every thing he had, and killed him. It wasn't in cold blood, but when the time came he hadn't even hesitated. That bothered him more then he cared to admit. Logically he had known it was likely to happen. He had even planned for it. Still… it had gotten to him, and deeply so.

They kicked him out as soon as he could walk of corse, and he found himself in the Hokage's office a few hours later he dropped the transformation he had automatically used to get past the secretary as well as the Chunin guards… Interestingly they didn't even talk to him, just let him through with out a word. Sarutobi probably knew he was coming, he was smart like that.

The blond looked up at the third "Hey old man…"

"Naruto." The Hokage was the same as he always was, although there was something in his eye, a mix of curiosity and sorrow, the younger boy felt a little nervous under that look. "I was expecting you."

"I know…" he sighed rubbing his head "You want to know how I know what I know don't you?" he was quite "You want to know how I could beat a Jonin, how I knew how to make that Rasengan that I ripped him to pieces with." He spat the last part.

Sarutobi recognized the warning signs; he had seen them before far to many times. "Naruto… what you did wasn't a bad thing." He wanted answers yes, but this was more important.

"I _Killed_ him Old Man. I ripped him to pieces with out hesitation. I went there knowing I would have to kill him and I wanted to! I knew he was going to try and kidnap Hinata and I killed him for it! I liked it old man! Do you hear me? I liked it!" he screamed before lowering his head tears dropping to the ground "I'm a monster… not human…"

The old man sighed and took a puff from his pipe. "You're not a monster Naruto. He was going to kill you, and hurt your friend. Any of us would feel the same in your place… I did."

The boy's head shot up "You?"

The Hokage nodded "We are shinobi Naruto… our duty will sometimes force us to kill. When it comes to fights were you are protecting yourself and your precious people anger is common. To feel pleasure when you finally defeat that enemy is common, and natural. Tell me Naruto do you regret killing him?"

He considered it for a time "No, I don't regret it. I knew what I had to do and I did it." he closed his eyes.

"But you didn't want to did you?" asked the third

"No… If I could have stopped him with out killing him I would." Naruto answered eyes snapping open looking at the old man as if he was crazy.

"Then you're not a monster. Monsters are those that kill with out need. You had no choice in the matter." He answered simply.

"You-you're sure" there was a glimmer of hope in those blue eyes.

"Yes I am. To be a shinobi means that you will inevitably be forced to kill, it is a fact of the life of a Ninja. This dose not makes you a monster. It is the details that determine your true character. 'Do I have to kill? Are you making excuses to fight mortal battles?'. You are a good person Naruto. Your actions were commendable, and prevented a possible war."

"Thank you…" The demon host sighed as if a massive weight fell from him. He steeled himself "Alright then. It's time I come clean then right?"

"It would be appreciated." The old man didn't want to strain the boy too far.

"Ok then… I'm not really six years old." This was the moment of truth "I'm fourteen… or twenty depending on how you look at it." he looked around for a chair, this was going to take a bit. Finding none he sealessly made a clone and had it transform into the necessary peace of furniture before the initial puff of smoke had faded, imitating a item summoning… a handy skill he had not realized he could mimic until now. He blinked once as he realized the potential of this new hybrid skill. He shook his head to clear that thought; he could explore it later.

"Is that so?" The Sandiame asked interested. Of all the answers there could have being that one was the one of the few he had not expected.

"Yep. Bit the big one in the first part of the Leaf/Sound war." The apparently teen said mater of factly.

"Leaf/Sound war?" Sarutobi knew of no such war… Sound was a very new shinobi village. It was growing fast, but it's nins were under trained, in fact it was believed that they would not send anyone to any of the Chuunin exams until a decade or so from now.

"It happens in about eight years, starting with the current Chuunin exams… Make sure you have the best of the best with you that day old man, I don't want to see Konohamaru crying at your funeral again any time soon." he added in dead seriousness.

The old man was quite as he listened to _That_ little peace of information.

"When I died… It turned out old man Shinigami owed me by their rules" he continued

"Their?" Sarutobi asked.

"_Their_." He added with a knowing look. "He gave me a second chance at life as penance, memories included. Being aware my bloodline triggered in the Kyuubi assault, if it hadn't the demon's influence would have kicked in before my sharingan could awaken. There one final 'gift' he is planing to give me, but he won't let me know what it is… I've done my best to make sure the great tragedies that happened the first time around didn't happen… but I can only do so much."

The old man raised a questioning eyebrow taking another puff.

"The Uchiha massacre… I didn't know the exact date so there wasn't much I could do… but at least it turned out better then last time." That little event still weighed heavily on him.

"Better?" the clan was almost whipped out… he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

He was quite for a time "Two survivors… well three if you include me, but my blood was dormant. Sasuke, and Itachi himself." He said it quietly.

"And the other was this kidnapping you just prevented was another of these events?" the old man considered this. The information he learned this day was proving to be far more important then he originally believed it would be… and he had some fairly high expectations to begin with.

"Yah… if the kidnapper got Hinata, Hiashi would have taken him out, and then a whole bunch of crappy stuff happened as a result." He grimaced at the memory, before smirking at the fact he had prevented at least one of his friends suffering.

"I can imagine… Is they're anything else I should know?" he asked.

"Yah… I need your help on a few things. I could become a shinobi now, we both know my abilities are upper Chuunin, lower Jonin. But what I would like to do is graduate with the rest of the kids my age. If I do I can probably stop a traitor from stealing the forbidden scroll. I'll need your help for another thing. No matter what Genin team I am assigned to, I need to go on a certain C class mission. If an old drunkard of a man named Tazuna shows up asking for bodyguards, I ask that you put me on the team you assigned to do so. That mission will be paid for as a class C, but will jump to B, then A. The Wave is under a massive economic depression at the time, and if this job isn't done it will stay as such." He paused "I believe I can get us two powerful new members for the leaf. Even as civilians they would be a great asset."

"Explain." The old man asked.

"Zabuza and a young boy named Haku, both formerly of the mist, although the later may have never formally being trained. They are both contracted to kill Tazuna buy a crime boss known as Gatou. Gatou planed on betraying them from the start… I think I might be able to convince them to defect to the leaf." He looked right at the Hokage not as a subordinate, but as an equal, and a friend. "There tired old man. They've being on the run for a very long time. There worried about each other… knowing the other could die at any moment. In the end they both scarified themselves for each other. The Mist are not our allies, and they are both good people. Even if they don't join our forces they would be valuable to us. Zabuza is one of the best Kenjutsu masters out there, and Haku bares a powerful bloodlimit that could lead to a new clan for our village in a few generations."

The third raised a hand "Your point is proven. When the mission comes I will assign it to you and your team, and if you can convince them, I will allow them into the village as civilians, or shinobi if they so wish it, after the standard probationary period of corse."

Naruto grinned widely, for once it being genuine "I owe ya old man. There's some more junk I need to tell ya about though."

"Oh?" The last few things were not so much informative, as they were requests to assist the young man in front of him complete his plans. Something he was willing to do as they shared a common goal and the young blond was in fact the most qualified to complete these 'missions'.

Naruto turned grim "The Otokage is Orochimaru."

"What!" he actually was shocked by that, Orochimaru? His former pupil had become the leader of a new nation? The implications were endless.

"He has at least one spy. He's in the academy right now, but he will be a Genin until the war springs up, his name is Kabuto, although I do not remember his family name… I don't think we can get him to turn aganced the snake, but we could probably use him for false information."

"A good idea…" a very good idea… "Are you sure he works for the enemy?"

"Yes. By the looks of things he likely is already working for him, although I don't know when exactly he was turned. He also has a mind altering seal on him that insures loyalty to the member." He knew those seals very well…

"Is there anything else?" he asked, already working over what he had just learned

"Nothing I can think of… Wait. Suna will ally with sound in the initial attack, but only because Orochimaru impersonates there Kage for it. They were our allies after that was revealed… There are other things I know, but I they're not things for me to tell." He finished. "Your turn old man. My cards are on the table… how's the game going to end?"

The Kage of the leaf considered what he had learned and went over his options "Uzumaki Naruto I am declaring you a Genin of the leaf, and assigning you an A class Long term mission. You are Infiltrate Kohona Academy and route out possible traitors, and then take your place on a standard four man Cell, from that point you will complete the tasks of completing your objectives." He smiled taking another puff from his pipe "Consider yourself under orders to grow as strong as possible… it wouldn't do to have my successor be week would it?"

Naruto started off smiling, but by the end he had a lip splitting grin to his face. "No it wouldn't." He turned around to leave.

Sarutobi spoke up before the energized youth could leave. "Naruto… there is one other thing."

Blue eyes turned to face him inquisitively "What is it?"

"Uchiha Mokoto wishes to speak with you." he said drawing from his pipe once more

"Uchiha Mokoto?" Naruto questioned. "Who's that? What would she want with me?"

"She is the current head of the Uchiha clan… As you know several ANBU saw your eyes during that fight… one of them seems to have informed her of your lineage." He sighed "I regret to inform you that I do not know who of them acted as the mole. ANBU Squad head Hizashi has informed me that punishment will be swift and sever once he finds the culprit."

The boy sighed "So they know about me… great… Ah well I guess it was inevitable. Anyone else know?"

"Many of the Hyuuga, they are rather secretive though so a leek on that end is unlikely, even more so that the clan is currently in your dept." He paused "Many of the ANBU Corps have also become aware of that, as well as your skill level. It can be expected that you will likely be approached by them shortly after you become shinobi."

"ANBU Eh? Cool." He said considering it. "Hum… not yet. Maybe after my Chuunin exam, pass or fail."

The Sandiame chuckled "I'll pass that along for you."

"Thanks Old man… anything else?" he was smirking in a fox-like manner.

"No, that is all… Your payment for your mission will be deposited into your account on successful capture of the traitor."

Naruto nodded "Hai… See ya later!" with that he telloported out of the tower, dispelling the remaining clone right afterwards.

"I'm going to have to name that at some point." muttered the newly appointed secret Genin. He had just used his unique from of telloportation for the second time that day. His gut was full with Raman and he was ready to meet his relatives… well as ready as he could be. His grin was plastered on full blast, he was ready to get the hell out of there one way or another at any given moment, and he had prepped himself as much mentally as he possibly could.

The guards were Chuunin, but only one was Uchiha, he had his sharingan activated… an ability Naruto had yet to figure out. How could some Uchiha keep their Sharingan active every waking moment? He could only keep his active for one to one and a half-hours at most, and that was provided he didn't use his reserves for anything else! He knew his reserves were significantly higher then the man he had just walked past so there had to be some trick to it…

There was a boy waiting for him, and with a blink he realized who it was "Sasuke?"

The dark haired child blinked himself "You know me?"

'Shit.' He had to come up with something, fast. "Well yah. When I figured out I was Uchiha I would come around here in disguise now and then…" this was true, but the reason why he knew his former teammate but true.

"Oh…" added the pure blooded Uchiha, before looking at him a little curiously. "Is it true you have already mastered the sharingan?"

The blue eyed boy nodded and suddenly sapphire blue eyes flared ruby red, three tear slowly rotating around his pupil. "I only managed it this year though… and I still don't know everything."

"Can you teach me?" he asked he saw hope in the other boy's eyes, as well as a glimmer of something… darker…

Naruto considered it… Sasuke was always like a brother to him, and they were in fact apparently related, at the same time the boy was also his killer… He mentally shook his head. This wasn't the boy he had known, it was someone new curios to an apparent relative he had never known about, and striving to become stronger to help his clan and avenge his family. He grinned "Sure. I don't know everything but I'll teach ya what I can!"

The other boy smiled as well, it was a smallish grin that Naruto could tell was something his face had rarely used. "Thanks! The Other sharingan users in our family are always to busy to teach me anything."

'Our Family…' the words rung through the demon host's head… he always wanted a family, and he might have one right here. He sighed and pushed that thought away. The odds they would actually want him were still to slim to consider.

"Oh I almost forgot, Mo… Mokoto-Sama has requested that I lead you to her." he said standing in guard so stiffly the blond had to stile a laugh, who knew the cold hartless Sasuke made such a adorable kid?

"Ok, lead the way!" he grinned, even if things went bad today he had at least made a new friend, and maybe in time another sparring partner. Lee was great for Taijutsu practice, but he spent a lot of time in the academy these days, and he couldn't practice Nin or Gen jutsu with him. Kenjutsu didn't interest the green clad one either, so learning new weapon styles was something else he was unable to do.

The younger boy nodded and led them to a large room. There were several large Uchiha fans decorating the walls nearby. Inside there were two figures, one was a woman in her late twenties early thirties that had a sort of regal look to her. The other was a man in his late teens early twenties that screamed Jonin despite lacking a forehead protector, his hair was long and eyes bore a fully mature sharingan. 'So he's the one that retired… he probably plays bodyguard. A wise precaution… Her chakra levels are far to low for her to be Shinobi.'

"Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked once more giving off a very regal aura.

"Yep. Your Uchiha Mokoto right? Sasuke's Mom?" he asked rather mater of factly.

"Yes. I have heard that you have demonstrated our bloodline. Is this true?" yep, shinobi or no she got this roll down pat… although he had a feeling it was foremost an act at the moment.

To answer that once more the blond channeled chakra to his eyes and the feared crimson eyes of Kohona flared into existence. "I've had them active as long as I can remember… I don't know all the tricks to them yet, but I know the basics."

She raided her eyebrows "Three tears to each eye… you've mastered it at a younger age then even Itachi managed."

"To be fare I had it active longer… For some reason they kicked in during the Kyuubi's attack…" he looked around, Sasuke had left, the only ones in the room knew "It might have being a side effect of when it was sealed within me." in truth it was… well in a matter of speaking. Because of the seal Shinigami was summoned, and with him, his memories.

She considered that. It made sense, trauma and danger triggered the sharingan, while children were normally incapable of activating it, that could be simply because they were incapable of processing sufficient trauma. If that was the case then it would only require a level of danger of much greater proportion to activate it… such as being a few feet away from the face of the strongest demon ever known. "Humm… So you have being practicing it from that time?"

Naruto looked down and blushed a little "It was kinda neat. I used to do it to freak out the old man back when he took care of me. Once I realized I remembered anything I saw with them in perfect detail I kept practicing it… when I got older I learned the significance. Even copied a few upper level jutsu observing the Ninja with it once I got my second tears." He shrugged "Not much else to do but train… and dad wanted me to be strong."

"Your father?" this was interesting, the vessel knew the identify of his parents? If he did his lineage could be traced, perhaps there were even a few of his relatives still alive within the clan.

He nodded "Like I said it activated when I faced the demon… the memory of his last words are burned into my memory until the day I die… if not after. I don't know who mom was though, and I'm pretty shure she was the one from your clan." He shrugged then pepped up "Hey do you guys know who she was?"

Both Uchiha had gone pale, deathly so. "Th-The Yondiame was your father?" she asked eyes wide

He nodded one eyebrow raised "Well Duh, I meen I only look exactly like him… well with my eyes normal and lacking the whisker marks… and I'm younger…" he looked off to the side.

They both looked at the boy realizing the truth to his words, as the matriarch of the Uchiha clan chuckled "How couldn't we have seen it?" a short laugh "And she always said she was going over to help out her friend with his paper work."

"She?" the blond asked hopefully

"Uchiha Subaru, My sister." She added offering an actual smile "It appears I am your Aunt."

The blondes eyes were wide "Aunt?"

She nodded "Yes Aunt. I understand you live alone?"

He nodded "Have for a while… Don't think bad of the Old man, I asked to be on my own. The looks they were shooting at the owner Kira-san…. Kyuubi is my burden, not his." He said with a sense of finality "And it's not yours ether."

She raised an eyebrow "Is that so?"

"I an't stupid. These eyes can memorize more then just Jutsu you know. I can read a book in minuets by activating it and flipping through the pages, each is locked in as a memory that I can call up any time I want." He looked right at her "You asked if I lived alone, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what you were going to suggest next."

The eyebrow remained up, but now her eyes had something different to them… she was impressed. "The Reputation of the Uchiha clan is large. Perhaps it would work the other way around. We could help restore their view of you. The Hyuuga clan is also in your debit at the moment to my knowledge. Barring the membership and respect of the two strongest clans of Kohona… many would reconsider their opinion of you"

"True… but many would also cease to continue their respect of the Uchiha clan. And I will not dam the only family I have." He answered eyes determined

She sighed "You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" she shook her head "You get that from her… Still we will not abandon you, if for no other reason our numbers are to thin. Much more so with those barring the sharingan."

He narrowed his eyes, cursing to himself; he was dammed if he did, dammed if he didn't. In ether option he abandoned them. "A compromise?"

She leaned in a little close. "Explain?"

He assumed his best 'diplomatic' pose "I'm entering the academy next year. When I graduate I will take my rightful name. That way I can as a Shinobi of Kohona earn the peoples respect. You'll get me back as a member, and we avoid those who think I corrupted you."

He considered it. "Very well… but you will visit at least biweekly to learn of your heritage. I will not have my Nephew be ignorant of his clan."

He grinned "Agreed." He turned to the guard "Now how do you do that?"

The man blinked "What?"

"Keep your eyes all Sharingany all day long! Best I can managed if ninety minuets tops!" the boy exclaimed

"Oh." He blinked "Actually it's rather easy…"

As the two began conversing on how who did what, and how to do it, an older woman watched, a smile to her face. They had all lost much, but perhaps… they had found something as well.

Authors Second Note: Ok there it is. It looked good for our little hero no? He has someone to talk to and help with his plans, has being excepted into a family of his own, made a friend, and looks to have a possible future career in the ANBU to look foreword to… of corse this meen one thing. In the next chapter the shit hits the fan. Naruto Welcome back to the Acadamy!


	6. The Academy

Authors notes: Well I'm back, Thanks to all reviews even the somewhat nasty ones. I am not going to scrap this story, though the plot might not be the same as some of you suspect… do not forget the ripple effect. There will be changes in the timeline as he walks through it, make no mistake about that. Now I have being getting a few responses asking for longer chapters… I have being lengthening them steadily but the main reason I can update so rapidly (around one a week is rather good time to my understanding) is because there generally only around 4000 (around 4500 from the last chapter forward) words apiece. Well I hope you enjoy this chapter… sorry it took so long I'm working on a side project (another Naruto fic, some will like, some will hate, is heavy with the A.U.ness)

To clear up some issues, yes this is a NaruHina; no it will not happen rapidly. Consider two things Naruto lived a life with little to no affection, he has a hard time realizing someone likes him, much less how they like him. The second is that though Hinata is not as timid this time around she is shy, and her practical hero worship of Naruto is going to take a while for her to build up the courage to do so much as stand near by him in public… Well at least when she has a choice about it (cackles evilly). Naruto will not be in the same teem as Sakura and Sasuke, mostly because while he is good, he isn't good enough to know how to get precisely the right scores to show up as dead last and still pass. In fact odds are he'll be close to if not at the top. Well that's enough of my jabbering onto the chapter! As for any little things I got wrong, well, sorry. I don't know every little bit of information on the Naruto verse, most of my knowledge comes form the manga itself (limited to what Shonen jump puts out), the animated series (only up to the Chuunin exams at the moment), and other fanfiction I read.

Disclaimer: Own Naruto I do not, Masashi Kishimoto's it is...

The Academy

The next year was an interesting part of his training. Showing up at the Uchiha complex had become the highlight of each month. He had struck up an odd sort of kinship with the former Jonin who acted as the Uchiha clan's primary adviser, shinobi representative, and combat instructor. Shinji as he had found was his name, had though him the basic Uchiha jutsu using the time honored method of him doing them while the blonde's sharingan was active… Normally the younger Uchiha reserved use of his eyes for enemies but as the elder had specifically requested that he use them he didn't complain. So he now had the Fire Dragon Missile, Mythical Fire Flower, and Dragon Fire Jutsu's to his arsenal. He had also finally gotten some practice on a primarily Ninjutsu using opponent. Needless to say after there spars the training ground tended to be more scorch marks then clean earth. He had picked up a few more weapons techniques. A good thing as before his Kenjutsu was limited to Shadow Shuriken Clones, the Shadow Shuriken Technique, and his own little version of item summoning that insured he was pretty much impossible to disarm so long as he had Chakra. He had gained a few sword styles, though he learned rather painfully that his normal clone weapons would dispel rapidly in a sword fight, forcing him to resummon them with each counter. With his current reserves (that actually surpassed the former Jonin) that wasn't much of a problem, but it still ate up his stamina to fast for his liking.

Sparing with Lee and Gai was interesting as always, and he found himself upping his weights again. Lee would still kick his ass six ways from Sunday, and the disparity was growing steadily as the blond was dedicating a moderate chunk of his training time to Ninjutsus. Of corse that wasn't saying Naruto was getting worse in hand to hand. If anything his unarmed fighting skills were amazing, it was simply that Lee's were inhuman! As powerful as Lee was the first time around, this time he would be a practical demon! He was already approaching the level he was at during the Chuunin exams and he was a first year academy student! Apparently the green clad boy's 'Youthful fire' was stoked by having a sparing partner so early in life. With his sharingan alone he was no longer certain he would win a fight with his 'rival' but using Ninjutsu he was fairly confidante of victory.

He had raided the Uchiha Library on one of his visits, using a combo of shadow clones and sharingan to memorize every book there in an hour or two. The books on seals and Jutsu creation were of particular interest to him. The later of them lead to a side project. He had being thinking of this for a while now… Most upper level Nins had an Assassination or one shot kill jutsu at their disposal. He had one of corse, the Rasengan, but it wasn't really his jutsu. The Rasengan was his father's technique, and while he was proud to wield it, it still wasn't truly his. As such he had began working on a new jutsu, one unique to him. It was still in the planing stages but at least it was something to do while at the academy.

He had actually found himself running into Hinata commonly, she was overjoyed to hear he had reconciled with his family. Although she was suspicious of why he had not taken on their name. He had told her up front that he had secrets he wasn't willing to share yet… Had it being Sakura he would have being flattened, and he knew it, but somehow the pale eyed girl seemed to understand.

When the time came he entered the academy eyes set and determined. He remembered every one here, though only two knew him. Both Sasuke and Hinata greeted him warmly, the former with a request for a spar after class and the later with a shy blush and stutter.

Some of the adults were offset by this, some glaring at him in a particularly harsh way for 'corrupting such noble children' others were confused as to why the heirs of the two foremost noble shinobi clans seemed to be treating the 'Demon kitsune' as if he was nothing but a normal boy. The vast majority however was simply confused… though it was difficult to tell with some, namely the Aburame.

The entrance exam was simple enough, however the examiners hated him as much this time around as they did the last time. He should have aced the written test easily, as it was he scored above average, in it. The physical evaluation was… well fun. It wasn't often that the blond got a chance at direct revenge with absolutely no chance of negative repercussions. The first time around his taijutsu instructor nearly beat him to death in this little 'evaluation' this time around… well with a good Medic-Nin that arm would be fixed up in four, five days tops.

Classes were… interesting… He didn't hide his skill, though he did conceal the bulk of his abilities, even using seals for henge and replacement, though he never did pull off an effective standard clone, concealing his ability to use the more potent shadow clone technique. Still he did his best to scare those of his instructor's that hated him shitless. One day during target practice after one of them made a rather potent comment about him, his ability, and how some people should never be given projectiles, less they hit there allies rather then there enemies. Normally he would have let this go and maybe let lose a prank in return if not for one fact. Though he was glaring at Naruto innately, his sneer shifted to both Sasuke as well as Hinata though out it, stating clearly who he believed would first suffer this fate. All things considered a bit of a warning seemed a good idea. The first Kunai sunk deep into the target's bulls-eye, the second hit it's base ring dead center, hammering it in further. The third repeated, driving it in partly to the hilt, the fourth hitting with enough force to allow the initial throwing knife to split the target dead center. The whole time he did this his eyes were barring into his 'teacher' with a level of killing intent that the Kyuubi would be proud of.

The demon itself was still dormant… that was odd in of itself considering it should have woken up the first time he let lose his rage. Maybe he just hadn't gotten angry enough? The seal was still functional and if he focused hard enough he could still sense some Yoki in his chakra system but the fox remained in it's slumber.

Unknown to the blond he was starting to pick up a small following, of the worse possible kind. When he acted the way in class that he did he had forgotten to take into account one thing… He was a protective, strong secretive, kid, that actually didn't look that bad now that his hair had grown out a bit (kept in a lose sort of ponytail, the Ero-sennin had a few techniques that required long hair he hadn't be able to learn the first time around), that had a mysterious past, and scared the crap out of half of the teaching staff. Combined with the fact their parents hated him and it was no surprise he had unknowingly started building up a fangirl army… oh the horror.

The academy took five years to work though, though some could be passed up a few 'grades' early. Normally someone with Naruto's level of proficiency would be skipped at least one or two grades, however once more his instructors insured his holding steady at an above average score. That in itself seemed to confuse many of the classmates, it was common knowledge that the blond was the man to beat in there class. Even the class ahead of them knew that. (A few had spotted the container sparring with Lee. And a few had asked in. Weird or not Lee was more proficient in hand to hand then most real ninja, and the blond was grudgingly above there level in it as well.)

For the first few years he basically ignored class, and slept his way through his 'lessons' or kept working on his jutsu. Jutsu creation was a lot trickier then most assumed it was for this reason most Nins only had one or two original techniques. Picking out what he wanted was easy, figuring out how to do it was a lot harder… What he was aiming for was a slashing variant of the Chidori, only a little different. He had gotten the idea from that 'Voltage Blades' technique of the Cloud-Nin he had fought. There was a problem there though, Lighting was not his elemental affinity, wind was. He could have developed another wind jutsu, except it seemed a waste to him. Rasengan was more then powerful enough, and sometimes wind alone wasn't enough. He did have one other strong element though… His Uchiha blood leaned towards fire, and Kyuubi was supposedly the strongest fire elemental spirit ever, and he was its host. A flaming blade of some sort certainly sounded lethal… but even that was not what he was after. As much as he hated to admit it, a simple blade wasn't his style. No he was to… 'feral' for that, especially if he was counting on the Kyuubi's presence to pull this off. No what he had in mind was a bit more ambitious. The one thing he did pay attention in class was tests or assignments. Those he finished with bleeding efficiency before resuming his naps… It seemed once more he was an outcast, only this time rather then being laughed at he was feared.

'This must be similar to what Gaara went through.' He thought lazily, doodling into a spare sheet of paper. He had just finished another basic task, and was working on his jutsu again. 'Hum, I guess I could work it off it as a sort of hybrid of the Chakra scalpels combined with the grand fireball technique… only I swap around a few of the seals to increase power flow, and change the distribution… Hum, one handed seals for this on from the start, as nasty as it should be it'd be at less then half it's effectiveness if I can't manage that…' his head shot up, as he looked at Shikamaru. The shadow user was looking at him again…

The Nara in question was very curious. Since the blond showed up he had being a constant mystery. He had lost his textbooks in the first week, and slept or doodled though out class but somehow he knew every answer there was for any question the instructors asked. Likewise his skills were well above average yet that was what he was ranked as… It was as if the teachers were intentionally holding him back as much as possible. Yet that couldn't be, he knew the instructors were picked specifically to be as unbias as possible. There was another big question, how was he as strong as he was? It was true there were certain prodigies that gained power at an almost inhuman rate… Could Naruto be such a child? Even if he was then why was he ignoring the instructors? Why didn't he care that he had no texts to read from? Unless 'He already knows it all… He memorized the books early on and then never bother to bring them around again… or maybe they were stolen and he never bothered to get them back.' His brows furrowed again 'And he ignores the instructors because he knows they would never teach him anything more then they had to. But why do they hate him so much? It's like they fear him so much they wouldn't dare attack him directly, so they're trying to hinder him as much as possible… but why fear him so much?'

The blond looked at him again, then blinked and shrugged off the intrusion, going back to his little project. Shikamaru knew it was a justu of some kind, it seemed to be a fire attack of some kind, but he had no idea what it was. 'What are you Uzumaki? Why do they fear and hate you so much?' That's when a sudden thought struck him 'He's an Uzumaki… there is no Uzumaki clan, not even among the civilians. Maybe they committed a capital offence and were whipped out… maybe his parents were exiled form their clan and died, leaving him as some mark of shame to Kohona… The possibilities are endless.' He cursed a bit; he hated things he didn't understand. Don't get him wrong he wasn't about to waste his energy trying to figure him out but it nagged at him.

Hinata and Sasuke were also curios about there blond friend, initially the two barely acknowledged each other, old clan rivalries coming into play there. But as both had seen the other interact with the golden enigma on a regular basis they started talking with each other if only to 'compare notes'. Interestingly enough they actually had a lot in common, they were both heirs to there clans, they both had family issues that would make a psychologist run for his bank book, and they were both well entangled in the mystery that was Naruto. They had attempted to bring Lee into the circle with limited success… don't get them wrong the liked they guy but there was only so much 'passionate youth' they could take before braking out the Kunai and getting stabby. None the less though combining their efforts that had managed to paint a bit of a fairly accurate picture about their reclusive companion.

Naruto was an Uchiha by blood, one with a fully mastered sharingan at age six, beating even Itachi's record at eight, at that same age he fought and defeated a Jonin, actually killing ht enemy Nin with no formal training. He hid himself behind a mask of smiles, but was hated and feared by the village, and had a chakra capacity well above what most Jonin could hope for. All things considered they should be worshiping him as the next Uchiha prodigy until Sasuke rose a bitter point. "Look at what the last one did." It was true, and well known among the shinobi clans of Kohona that the Uchiha had many prodigies, of them they all seemed to fall into one of two categories; Great protectors, and bloodthirsty psychopaths. The former always brought great blessings to Kohona, tipping the end of a war in there favor, revealing some great coup right before it occurred, discovering a new jutsu that would save thousands of lives, etc. The others took hundreds of there strongest shinobi to put down. Traditionally it was the same clan that spawned these mad dogs that inevitably put them down, but this time the Uchiha were in no shape to face a man of such skill, much less two of them. "Itachi is already out of our league… everyone in Kohona knows that. The Hyuuga are even more venerable to his forbidden jutsu, and he can simply overpower anyone else. That's why traditionally our clan has always stopped them. Only another Uchiha can counter the sharingan."

Hinata's brows furrowed at the thought, Sasuke had already told her about the Mangekyo and what it was capable of, it was true. One of the few downsides of the Byakugan's all seeing eyes was that it was simply that all seeing. Hyuuga were trained from near birth to resist illusions and killing intent, the end result was that they could generally shrug it off but tended to become somewhat… numb… to the feelings of others or life itself for that matter. Even with that training however one of these 'goddess of the moon' jutsu and every Hyuuga with there eyes active in the area would drop like flies. Only the piercing power of a fully mastered sharingan would have any hope of breaking through it. "But if that's true then why do they not try to groom Naruto-kun into a champion to help defeat him?"

The Uchiha considered it "My best guess is fear. They do all seem afraid of him. Every time a truly gifted member of my clan showed up there was always a bit of nervousness. They don't show it directly, trying to support us and demonstrate why we should remain loyal of corse, but that was because the general populous could be confidant that the rest of us would stop him if he snapped. Itachi cut that safety net to shreds, and Naruto might have more potential then He did." He all but spat the name of his elder sibling. As far as he was concerned he had no brother, only a mad man who he had to stop at any cost. "There worried because if Naruto dose snap then not only would they have to deal with Itachi, a man they already can't handle, but another possibly stronger fighter, and that idea scares them senseless." He wasn't afraid to acknowledge the blond was his better in combat, the difference was too large to ignore, and it wasn't like it was the blonde's fault. Hell Naruto helped train him as much as he could. It was like he wasn't even there age at all…

The blue haired girl nodded "That makes sense, father thought me that people rarely think logically when there is a threat present... But it isn't fare! Naruto-kun would never hurt anyone in the village! Even when they are openly hurtful to him he just shrugs them off." She was still rather protective of her crush… ever since that day were he saved her she had had a place in her heart for the boy. The infatuation grew with time as she saw how truly strong he was, not just in a fight, but though life. No one was ever nice to him, only a very few grew to know him, though he always won over those that did. He was kind even in the face of such spite, and never stopped smiling.

Sasuke nodded "There all Bakas, I still don't get why he wants to be Hokage with the way they treat him."

The pale eyed girl smiled "It's just how he is… that's what Naruto-kun is like."

Sasuke considered it "Psychopaths or protectors… hum. Perhaps there is truth to that myth." He shrugged "Regardless it's his life." He smirked "Hey want to spar? I'm in the mood for a Taijutsu match, and that cousin of mine keeps telling me on how it's vital we know it inside and out."

She nodded sliding back and assuming the basic academy stance a memory fluttering through her mind 'You can't always rely on the gentle fist.' Said a grinning figure. She was on one of her little visits to the village pariah when he had out of the blue asked for a sparing match. 'It's the most powerful hand to hand form there is Yah, but there are still flaws to it, and it never hurts to know another form. If nothing else at least you'll know what your up aganced.' And she had taken that to heart. It had surprised her father when in one of there most resent sparing matches after he had sealed up her arms she had switched styles and hit him in the gut. That little shock almost won her the match.

Sasuke assumed a similar stance channeling chakra to his eyes. It took a lot of work but he had finally awoken his sharingan, though it was still to one tear to an eye. At age eleven, it didn't set any records, but was still impressive to have it active before graduation.

Just as the two started at each other none other then the green mini beast of Kohona dashed onto the seen, a gold clothed blur on his trail "Get back here Lee!" yelled the blond.

Naruto himself was quite different from his first time around. He wasn't aloud to infiltrate the populace with his henge skills anymore so he had to deal with the heightened prices of everything, but fortunately his little stash of ration bars had insured he wasn't malnourished, though he had to down plenty of ramen to get the taste out, yuck. As a result he was a little shorter then Sasuke. His hair was long in the back and tied into a lose ponytail, though the bangs were still short and spiky as ever. He generally wore his trade mark yellow/orange jumpsuit, the jacket open to the blue shirt underneath. He had his arms bandaged for the lotice techniques though he refused to wear the amber legwarmers, hiding the weights under his pant legs. Judging by the look of him he had opened the first of the gates… odd. He was always a little careless about using Kinjutsu but to use such a technique would meen that something big had to be going on.

Looking at each other the dark haired duo nodded and rushed after them, Hinata activating her Byakugan to keep track of them as they both knew the pare would be out of site in moments.

(In the forest of Kohona)

'Dam it! I should have seen this coming. That bastered Mizuki knew I wouldn't fail so he sped up his timetable to use Lee!' he held his speed. When he had discovered what had happened he had taken off at full tilt, using his foreknowledge as a guess as to the taijutsu expert's destination, and it seemed once more lady luck favored him. "Dang it Lee listen to me!" he shouted.

Rock Lee himself was running full tilt, if he had shed his weights he would have long being a blur in the sunset at this point. He looked behind him, noticing his best friend/sparring partner not to far behind him… that was odd. He shifted the scroll on his back. Mizuki sensei had said there was something in it that would force open his chakra opening points after he had failed his final exam. He had done perfectly in every thing short of the jutsu exam… as always his disability had stopped him right when he was at the point of success! No more! After the exam Mizuki-sensei had informed him of a 'super secret' way of passing. All he had to do was retrieved the forbidden scroll and take it to him and Mizuki-sensei would repair his disability and teach him the clone technique himself! He would finally become a full ninja!

He finally stopped a short distance from the place Mizuki had said they would meet at Naruto landing a moment behind him actually breathing hard. The fact that his veins were slowly shrinking to there normal size and his skin paling to it's normal tan from the red it was moments ago saying how seriously he had taken following him. "Naruto! How could you use that technique for something as simple as following me! Gai sensei told us to only ever use it if a person precious to us was in danger!"

Breath slowly returning to normal then blond narrowed his eyes that had flared sharingan red for a moment before he slugged Lee in the face "And I did! Even if I can overcome the after effects I would never use that technique casually!" he sighed speeding up his chakra circulation to speed up the repairs his healing factor had begun… between holding the two for the inter chase a full fifth of his reserves were gone. That might not sound like much, but then again you have to consider most people more then a few years older then him would be long dead from the strain of it. He sighed "It's a set up, Mizuki is a traitor."

Lee's eyes shot open "What!"

Naruto nodded "I'm a Genin lee. I have being since before I entered the academy. The Hokage suspected one of the teachers was a traitor and sent me to infiltrate as I was the only one of our age group that could possibly beet a Chunin at the time." He looked at Lee "Well while were here we might as well get this done. Mizuki isn't that powerful in fact you could likely take him with out taking off you're weights…" his brow furrowed "And he would know that…" his sharingan blazed as he spun around. There they were three chakra signatures, the smallest of them being the silver haired instructor. "Lee, drop them and get ready to run." He himself fell into a stance "Things are about to get interesting."

Authors second note: Well I am thinking of tossing out the prologue of my other fic before the next chapter, then alternating between the two… for hints let's just say that involves a demon fox running lose in the hidden leaf… but unlike others there will be no fusion's here.


	7. Enter the Kitsune

Authors notes: Ok the basics, sorry for the spelling, I am doing my best. Techniques will be in English, mostly because I will be using a lot of original ones and my (Automated) translator sucks. Aside from this I will sow some basic Japanese words into it such as baka and teme into the story. And requested translations will be given in the following chapter in the next chapter…

Chapter specific notes: No it will not be a Sasuke/Hinata/Naruto team, I am sorry but the best student is normally pared with the last, and despite not being at the first (which he deserves actually) he is still above average. Once again that title falls unto Sasuke, despite being warmer do to having a family of his own, as well as actual friends he is still driven. His little rivalry with Naruto (despite not being on the level of Lees) and having an actual clan to teach him the clan techniques having only served to increase his ability. The teams themselves will be revealed in the chapter. The resons for them will be explained in the second note. Sasuke is acting OOC because he actually had a suto stable upbringing, as such he's not ad dark as he once was. Hinata is acting OOC because of a similar reason, (Her crush on Naruto for the most part a result of hero worship and the fact he actually saved her). And Lastly Naruto is OOC for the combined resons of the fact he is mentally older then he is, and he's letting the mask of the idiot fall more now that he has actual friends to trust. (Honestly if he was as stupid as he seemed, how did he learn the shadow clones in a few hours, Rasengan (a technique that took the fourth years) in a month or two, come up with a strategy to beat Zabuza in a half second, notice and deduce Lees level of training from one glance, and trick Kiba into knocking out his own ally? Take into account that his education was likely shoddy at best and putting together that he is smarter then he acts is kinda obvious. Lastly and most importantly, Naruto has not had Mizuki and Iruka as an instructor until his final year.

Disclaimer: Naruto is Masashi Kishimoto's property, not mine… yet… (Evil cackle)

Enter the Kitsune

Lee raced to remove his weights as Naruto locked onto them "Lee…" he halted, he couldn't ask Lee to run. If he did he would still be blamed for stealing the scroll… Naruto himself only got out of it because he captured Mizuki. The other two were upper Chuunin lower Jonin "I need you to return the scroll to the homage tower and get them to dispatch the ANBU. I'm going to engage the enemy. They shouldn't blame you once you explain it, and I will back you up about this if I survive." He kept his eyes trained on the enemy, though he was grinning mentally 'Bate set…'

Lee's eyes widened, he couldn't let his friend do this on his own! "But you must be tired after chasing me! You will be fighting fresh enemies! I know you are strong but this is past your limits!" his own eyes burned "I am responsible for this so I will fight along side you!"

Naruto looked at Lee "I guess your not a ninja yet so I can't really order you around." He looked ahead "Fine but we have to insure the safety of the scroll. They're to strong for me to be watching out for it and keep tabs on them." He considered his options before holding out his hand "Give me the scroll, I have an idea."

Lee hesitated "How do I know you are not the spy? What proof do I have that you're really Naruto?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow "You saw me use the gates right?" he formed a shadow clone beside him "I did that with out seals. Now ether I am who I calm to be or I'm skilled enough to just kill you and take it."

Lee blanched then nodded handing over the scroll "Good point. What's the plan?"

Naruto looked at him "This is a secret Lee, I showed Hinata it because she saw me fight the Jonin that tried to kidnap her, Sasuke knows because… well you'll see. You can't tell anyone until I graduate ok?"

The green clad Genin nodded "If I can not keep this secret then I have no right to be a shinobi!"

"Right then… Sharingan!" his eyes blazed red, drawing a gasp from his ally. "Ok the plan is…"

(Seen shift)

"Were is that kid?" asked one of the cloaked figures he had a stone forehead protector with a slash through it on his upper right arm. His head and hands were bandaged, exposing only his mismatched eyes, the flesh around them horribly burnt. "I don't like this Mizuki he should have being here by now." he was tallish wearing a Chuunin's vest barring more then a few scrapes. He had an unusually large quantity of weapons on him, notably what looked like a Mist sword with the end broken off.

"Relax. He'll show up." answer the silver haired instructor.

The third member of their party was silent; she had a slashed hidden rain protector, and bound arms and legs. Her hair was cropped short and a dirty blue color with eyes matching. A notable feature about her was the fact she wore what looked like a cross between a backpack and a gourd on her back.

The Stone Nin narrowed his eyes "Fine. But remember the deal. We get copies of the scroll for ourselves." His eyes narrowed "He's here."

A green glad figure with an unmistakable bowl cut and bushy brows walked onto the seen with a scroll strapped onto his back. "Mizuki sensei?" he looked up at the trio confused "Who are they?"

"There some friends of mine Lee… why don't you give me the scroll now so I can fix you up?" he still sounded so damn convincing, even a Hyuuga would be hard pressed to tell he was lying.

The bushy browed boy narrowed his eyes "If there friends of yours why are they wearing Missing Nin's forehead protectors?"

"Forget it Mizuki." Said the burn victim "Subtlety is overrated, let's just off the kid and take the scroll already." He was already drawing his blade.

His female companion rolled her eyes and formed a seal pulling he hand back and dipping her hand into the rigged pack.

Mizuki sighed "I was trying to get him closer. He's faster then he looks." He shook his head "Never mind let's just take care of him. The ANBU will find us if we don't leave soon anyway." He drew out one of his massive shuriken getting ready to throw it. Lee's eyes went wide and he took off like a bat out of hell.

The two Nukenin cursed before taking off after him, the former jumping and deflecting off of several trees to land in front of him, forcing the green clad boy to duck as a blade of ice lashed out right above him, cutting the scroll from his back. Lee tuned the dodge into a full-blown spin to avoid the massive broken blade from bisecting him, landing on his feet and dropping into a taijutsu stance "I will not let you steel the scroll!"

The Rain-Nin darted away as the man from Stone fell into a tight neutral stance. Lee continued the stare down, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

The two held their stance until on some unseen signal Lee rushed him "**Leaf Hurricane!**" The man immediately jumped out of the way of the kick, bring his sword down in time to cleave his target in two… There was a puff of smoke for his efforts. Right after he touched the ground a suddenly pain stabbed from his back, coursing through him in the unforgettable agony of having massive amounts of high voltage currents run there way through your nervous system. He fell to the ground in a heap body convulsing like someone jabbed him with half a dozen tazers.

There were a set of thumps "Hum so that's what the Stunning Shock Technique dose. Handy for taking enemy alive wouldn't you agree Lee?"

The Stone Nin managed to look up to see two figures, one was easily identified as the same 'Rock Lee' he had just being chasing. The other was a blond in a mix of gold/orange and black, with red eyes barring some sort of spinning markings. "Wha-what?"

Naruto looked into his eyes "Sleep." Normally something so far aganced the intentions of him would never work, however with the rare large amount of pain and extreme disorientation induced by his last jutsu his will wasn't to hard to overpower his will. He looked at his partner sharingan fading; he wanted to keep that as a trump card if he could "The others will not be as easy to take down… You handle Mizuki I'll take the ice lady."

"An interesting plan." Said a voice, causing both heads to whip about. There was Mizuki, his arm scorched from the improvised explosive tag. His 'partner' seemed unharmed though her eyes were narrowed in anger. "But I have a better one. You hand over the real scroll and we let you live." He was not happy.

"Hiya Mizuki-San! Ow, you should really get that arm looked at!" he was grinning his foxy grin, blue eyes gleaming with amusement.

The silver haired teacher narrowed his eyes reaching back for a shuriken as The Woman from Rain held out her hand to stop him. They shared a glance "Very well." As one they jumped Mizuki pulling out a projectile and launching it at Lee as the woman darted forward water pulling out of the pack to form claw like ice blades on her hands.

Lee dodged to the side to avoid the attack, catching the weapon as it sailed by and returning it, spinning himself to use the captured inertia as well as adding his own. He braced and launched himself in it's shadow.

Mizuki's eyes widened as he dodged the initial counter attack, abandoning his footing on the branch to higher ground to narrowly evade the second. He was far from arrogant enough to believe that he would win this fight. Lee was a Taijutsu prodigy in his own right and was taking this seriously. He himself was an educator and spy. He might be a good marksman, and his stealth skills were above average, but in all truth he was no true fighter. He had to get out of here or hold off until the muscle he hired got through with the Kyuubi brat and could back him up like he had initially planned.

Meanwhile the 'Kyuubi brat' was dodging and weaving out of the way of the ice woman. Just his luck she seemed to be a taijutsu expert, though it seemed more of a focus then the absolute dedication he was used to from Lee and Gai. She was using Ninjutsu to enhance her hand to hand, or in this case claw to hand skills. All in all it was a rather lethal effect. If not for the predictive abilities of his eyes and the hard earned reflexes from countless spars with his green clad partner he would have being long since gutted. On the bright side he was assimilating a new and unique taijutsu style.

The woman narrowed her eyes, the boy was good. To good. They were running out of time. She hadn't being expecting any heavy resistance, and the fact that Toji had yet to show up meant that he was likely dead. Mizuki wasn't a fighter in any sense and this Lee kid was better then her openet. Her silver haired 'ally' would be down in less then a minute at this rate, and there was no sign of the scroll. She jumped back and formed hand seals rapidly, surpassingly the Uchiha in front of her didn't mimic her but rather flashed through a long series of his own, looking quite happy at the distance… Ether way her justu was done and water flowed and the water from her pack lashed out like a whip.

Naruto jumped back onto the vertical surface of a tree to evade before lashing out with a thunder dragon. The woman redirecting the water into a wall, diverting the potent blast into the ground. He grit his teeth, he wasn't assimilating those jutsu, namely because many lacked seals. She ether had a bloodline, or did what he did and mastered her jutsu to a completely flawless state, the latter more likely considering her fighting style. He jumped off the tree and began flashing through seals again.

The former Rain-Nin dashed forward with a sudden burst of speed as she saw the red eyed boy begin another set of seals, driving her clawed hand into the blond before he could complete the process… and was rewarded with a puff of smoke! "**Katon: Fire Dragon missile!**" cried out a voice behind her and she immediately deployed her defense again, knowing through experience she didn't have the time to dodge. The barrier hissed loudly as the fire blast ripped into it. Shielding her, but costing her much of the precious fluid she had in her tank.

Naruto sensed half a dozen chakra signatures approaching rapidly unfortunately so did the woman from rain. They shared a glance. 'Ok then, kiddy gloves are off.' He started flashing through seals again, only this time it was different. Each hand was doing one-handed seals in time. "I was hopping to save this for later, but it looks like you get to be my test subject…" There was a massive build up of power running down both arms, flames licking off his flesh as he finished the ninth and last seals his red eyes flared, sharingan spinning so fast that individual tears were hard to recognize "**Shounetsujigoku!**" There was a bright flash of light and heat, as fire blazed from each hand white fire leaving a faint aura of hot plasma in it's wake "Meet my version of my family's Hijutsu. Hell's inferno. I must thank you really… I only knew the basics of fighting with claws before. Now I know an inter combat form based around it." he sank into a stance mirroring the one she had at the beginning dread starting to fill er as the white hot blades left a faint plasma trail, seeming to burn the air itself around them.

She hesitated, her own ice claw technique was hardened by chakra to enable it to deflect steal weapons with out shattering, but from what she could tell the blond in front of her was using a much more potent jutsu. He shouldn't be able to hold it for to long, but that would likely be enough. She had to withdraw and fast. Damn Mizuki, Toji, and the scroll, for what they had gotten her into. She waited for a moment, then jumped back right as Naruto lunged; she made a few seals and gave up the last of her water supply to form a small group of water clones. The numerous copies dashing away in different directions.

"Not so fast." He growled, sharingan identifying who was real and who was fake. He formed a legion of clones each lacking the jutsu and took off after her, sending two copies after each of her's. 'Dam it, I'm burning though my reserves to fast. I have to get this done fast!'

As he sprinted after her, his eyes suddenly caught movement to his side, then pain. "A-another clone?" he spat out along with some blood. There was a blade of ice protruding from her arm and into his stomach.

"Yes." For the first time the mysterious Rain Nin's voice was heard. It was surprisingly soft, as if she couldn't find the breath to speak louder. "You put up a much better fight then I expected, but that wound is lethal. Tell me where the scroll is and I might end this quick, maybe even spare your friend."

Naruto's eyes flared "I-I'll tell you were it is… In fact I'll even show you… It's in hell!" with one swift movement he brought his clawed hand down though the blade vaporizing the chakra enhanced ice like a drop of water on hot coals. He dropped pumping energy into the wound, eyes spinning as his teeth curled into a snarl of both pain and anger. He lashed out, and with one violent move nearly severed her arm. The wounds coteries at impact, the blade passing through flash and bone with frightening ease.

She dashed back reaching to the wound. Her left arm was now only attached buy a chunk of flesh, the inter upper part of it mangled and brunt beyond recondition. And once more she had to jump back, as he stuck again. She could hear a sound to her side and turned to face another red eyed blond before a sudden numbness struck into her stomach, as if the inter area was frozen… things… were becoming hard to see, hear… so tired… so very tired… rest… yes rest now…

Naruto looked into her eyes as life faded from them. Once more he had claimed a life. Once more he felt the guilt starting to eat at him. He knew he didn't have much choice in the matter but dam it, he didn't have to like it. The blond Uchiha disengaged his Jutsus, clone, sharingan and Shounetsujigoku, and started making his way to Lee. He didn't have enough chakra to really do anything. Hell he was still slowly feeding his reserves into his wound to keep himself from dying. Still He could be there when it ended at least. So biting back a small curse he trudged on

Authors Note: I know this is below average in size, but I barely managed to squeeze it out as it is with both schoolwork and work work. To be completely honest I'm a little ashamed that it's as small as it is considering how long it has taken. On the bright side I am bending the rules a bit. Officially I can't run polls, but if the majority of people were to ask for faster posts in favor of normal length ones I would likely be influenced…

Once more I must apologize for the quality, quantity and speed of this chapter. Regardless of size the next one will be faster. I will also be making small edits and added seens to previous chapters while working on this one (Lee Vs Mizuki anyone?)

Thank you to all that have offered to play the rolls of betas, Feel free to send me edited versions to me, my Email is easily accessible to members, and none members, just leave me a address in a review and I'll send you my raw data myself.


	8. Attack of the Fan girls

Authors note: (Rises from the grave) I live! I know it's being a while, and I apologize to all my loyal readers for taking so long. My only real defense is that I have being severally over worked at the moment. The Christmas holiday plays marry hell on the free time of all consumable product producers, a field of work I find myself within the employment of. When followed by the swift and mighty force of Exams, I had no real choice but to take a small Hiatus. I will be doing the lee fight seen, but not right now, in fact I have decided that this story in of itself will act primarily as a rough draft, the 'improved' addition being released on it's completion. Alas updates will still not be as frequent as they once were, but I will still aim for at least one chapter every other week of sporadic size.

On another note, some of you might have noticed my other budding story 'A Fox Among The Leaves' I am eager to dig into that fic as well but unfortunately have not the means to get my hands on the script for the first episode of Naruto, of which I desperately need in order to complete it's first true chapter. Any assistance on the acquisition of this data would be greatly welcomed.

Oh and for any that wanted to know, that burning claw jutsu (Shounetsujigoku) translates to: Hell's Inferno/fire.

As a Final note, and this is a big one. This chapter was not beta'd out of my own desperation to get it out ASAP. I once more very much thank the numerous volunteers that have offered there assistance in this regard, and will update it with any corrections sited.

Anyhow, I'm sure you're though reading this junk and want to dig into the meat, so on with the show!

Disclaimer: I DO Own Naruto… in my own little world…

Chapter 7: Attack of the Fan girls.

The next day was far from a quite one, Naruto ended up sleeping in. How could he not when he was so drained by both the fight and the debriefing afterwards? Not to mention the debate that followed afterwards when the Sandiame informed him that Naruto was welcome to join one of the teems now that he had stopped the theft of the scroll. The lost Uchiha had to confess, it was tempting as hell, but he needed to remain in his year to make best use of his foreknowledge, and there was still a lot of things to do.

Still, he was surprised how well he ranked now, Two class A missions were under his belt and he hadn't even graduated. His Taijutsu was almost at Jonin levels, thanks largely to his near constant sparring with Gai and Lee, his Genjutsu none existent, but he could slice through it well enough even with out revealing his ancestry. His Ninjutsu was also impressive. While his technique library was rather small compared to most people of his ability, and miniscule to what an Uchiha should have, what he did know was hammered down to absolute perfection. The fact that the bulk was A rank Kin jutsu also helped a lot there. Aside from that his Stamina and Chakra reserves were near Sanin level. Though that wasn't quite as impressive as it seemed, as while he could perform the Uchiha fire techniques he had learned from Mokoto-san all day. His frontline attack jutsu required enough Chakra to kill lower class Jonin. His own Shounetsujigokutook as much energy as a Rasengan needed for form for every ten seconds or so it was active. As it was he could hold it for twenty minuets striate so long as he didn't use anything else. Still while costly, you couldn't argue the results, the technique sliced through chakra enhanced steel as if it was butter, and that was saying something. No he wasn't the strongest Ninja in Kohona, but he was up there, something the current Hokage knew quite well.

Of corse none of this mattered at the moment, For our tired hero had just turned to face his bedside clock and realized that he was indeed very late for class.

"Oh crap." The suto-Genin jumped out of bed at lightning speeds, flying around the room getting ready at a pace that most hunter nins would have problems tracking. Followed by a swift clone swap to get outside, then he was sprinting across rooftops as if all nine of the tailed beasts were after him.

Unknown to our blond hero he was being watched "This is Bishi watch to all units, the fox has left the den, I repeat the Fox has left the den!" Grinning, the figured revealed as ten year old girl with an outright creepy look to her face, let out a savage warcry, then started roof hopping after her 'one true love'.

One might ask how a girl that age with only the very most basics of shinobi training could hope keep up with one of the strongest Ninja of the inter village.

The pretty boys of the city knew far to well from asking such a foolish question.

-----

It is a well-documented fact that shinobi alongside every other group of major combatants at some point or another (provided they survive long enough) develops a natural 'danger' or 'sixth' sense about danger.

Naruto's own sense was honed down to a razors edge after countless years of living in an inter village of people hating and fearing him, more then willing to lash out and kill him if they believed they could get away with it. In addition to this was his small but highly active time as a shinobi, including facing down a number of A and S ranked criminals and enemy-Nin. And further still to the list facing down, not only a literal demon in combat, as well as one within himself, but also the very god of death itself.

Needless to say if you even contemplated brushing past him he could likely sense it, though anything short of a Jonin was practically laughable on his 'threat o meter'.

As such when that very sense suddenly shifted from 'chewed out by Iruka' to 'Both Tsunade and Sakura think Ero-Senin and Ero-Sensei have finally rubbed off on me.' (Which was of corse the step just above 'Itachi and the rest of the cloak wearing bakas figured siding with Orochimaru and attacking Kohona was a good idea' and one step under 'Fuzzball's relatives have stopped over and want to know where the 'cute little Kyuubi-chan' is' and under the ever present shadow of 'Green spandex starts looking like a good idea.') suddenly. He immediately unleashed a volley of clones in random directions while transforming into a harmless little bird pierced on the roof. All in all an ANBU would be impressed by his reflexes, and that was a very good thing, as he would need every second he could by with them.

The result was sudden and so horribly vicious that it would scar him forever. Ranking up there with 'Dad's last words' and 'First kill'. Every single clone was suddenly and mercilessly struck down, neither by kunai or shuriken, nor by jutsu, fist, or any other conventional implement of death and/or destruction. No each and every one of the literal dozens of clones met its end vea a blindingly fast tackle glomp.

'Fangirls' Naruto blinked in confusion. As a former teammate of Sasuke 'first time around' he knew what those incredibly powerful and frightening beings were. Even Kyuubi was somewhat intimidated by them. Considering he was the strongest known demon that ever lived, that was saying something. 'Why are they after me?' he raised a mental eyebrow 'Did Sasuke start drawing Fangirls again? No, it might be well known that I hang out with him, but so dose Hinata-chan and they could get the information out of her easier then me.' The raised eyebrow turned into an all out in depth frown 'And they were too aggressive. That wasn't a grappling hold, that was a full fangirl glomp… this doesn't make any sense.'

"Damn him! He got away again." Pouted a green haired pigtailed girl, who he mentally designated 'leader'

"Don't worry Sukiyumi! We'll get him!" encouraged another girl, this one with a lot of freckles in what would be a cute face except for her complete 'ass kisser' expression, that simply made her seem annoying. "After all if we could just get him like that then he wouldn't be catching right!"

"Your right. We will get him! We almost had him this time! Soon Naruto-kun will be all ours!" 'Sukiyumi' turned around to face her 'underlings' "Come on! He couldn't have gone far!"

"Right!" roared the fangirl horde. Various additions of 'hear hear!' and 'Naruto-kun will be ours!' The as one they darted off.

In the middle of the roof, unnoticed by all a signal bird stood with a look of pure horror on his face. 'Oh crap.'

-----

It took about half an hour of slowly weaseling his way towards the academy district. It was a hard path to tread, invoking the use of no less then ten hedges. Along side completely masking his aura. Brining out his sharingan twice for little hypnoses sessions 'This is not the boy you're looking for'. In addition to releasing _Twenty_ volleys of shadow clones, and even the sudden creation and use of a revised Rasengan to intentionally send _Himself_ flying at 'Ero-Senin when he's being spotted' speeds.

Needless to say, he was getting a little paranoid, and approaching the edge of the very _Very_ lose definition of what he called sanity.

"There not going to get me, no… Fuzzball won't let them. Nope if they try to get me I'll just go all demon on them and kick there asses… or not. I can't beat them up because their civilians still, crap… Maybe the cloak bakas and my homicidal cousin will rescue me. Can't use me for what ever messed up, twisted, and most likely apocalyptic reason they need my other half for if I'm captured by an army of rabid Fangirls. Ha ha ha NOPE! They'll come save me… Sides Itachi baka likely went through the same thing, he wouldn't subject another to that kind of… crap. He'd never willingly walk into such a demon infestation. Maybe that's why he snapped…" while he was saying this the near by ANBU black ops agent that was sent to find the currently MIA undercover Genin was slowly backing away.

"I do not get paid enough for this." Muttered the disgruntled ANBU, all but silently, as he continued his observation. He couldn't really blame the kid, after all he was around when Kakashi first joined the academy maskless… the mental scarring of that event arguably was only outshined by the systematic slaughter of his inter Genin teem. Unfortunately this insignificant sound that most members of the K9 species would have problems hearing was more then sufficient to draw the attention of our twitching hero.

"AH! They found me again!" at once a storm of fireballs kunai, clones and various other objects kicked up in a veritable storm of chaos as the blond haired boy ran at top speed, along side his chakra formed brethren

"GAH!" screamed the Shinobi as he was sent flying by the resulting explosions and army of deranged demon host clones.

Simultaneously countless girls, heads shot up in a manner eerily remnant to a dog that had just heard the panicked movements of fresh pray. "Naru-kun?" as one they moved.

Naruto could see them on the edge of the horizon, approaching fast. Chancing a brief use of the sharingan to make out there number and approach vectors. "There's no escape." He murmured in an almost horrified way turning around to see his view completely blocked off by the swiftly approaching swarm of prepubescent doom.

Sukiyumi grinned to herself as she watched her evil minions… er… 'Cherished companions' closed in on their mutual object of desire. There was nowhere to run, no where to hide. They had figured out the 'turn into a harmless inconspicuous animal' trick somewhere around the twelfth and thirteenth clone swarm, and a swift raid of the local travel shop had given them enough netting to insure that an air born attempt at escape would only end thing swifter. Finally they had him! Naruto-kun! The kick ass Genin that could out match a Chunin, the boy all their parents hated! The ninja with the smile as gold as his hair… Shaking away the dreamy state induced by her visions of her future with the 'ideal boyfriend' she screamed out the final order "ATTACK!" at once half a dozen girls tacked the object of there pursuit, crowing in victory, then suddenly shrieking in disgust.

As they leapt of the figure a wig was now visible on the ground, a blond one. As she turned to look at the boy himself she noticed several things.

He was taller then he should be.

His hair was back.

Said hair was in some kind of demented bowl cut.

His brows looked like two large fuzzy caterpillars had crawled onto his face and DIED.

He was wearing green spandex under the black and orange jumpsuit Naruto always ware.

He wasn't Naruto.

Her eyes widened in disbelief and horror "What are you doing here!?"

Lee assumed the power of youth position "My friend Naruto was showing me how to disguise myself with out chakra, and loaned me a set of his old clothing to help practice! However I fear that I must work harder on this skill. Women such as yourself still recognized me and managed to catch me unaware! Yosh I will work even harder to master this skill, and if I don't I'll run five hundred laps around the village, and if I can't do that then I'll climb the Hokage monument with one hand! And if I fail to do that…" they had tuned him out at this point and were beyond creeped out that they had al'be it inadvertently being stocking the 'mini beast of Kohona.

-----(Later at the 'secret hide out' AKA the club house at the other side of the street)

The Fangirls fled the seen a fast as they were able. Regrouping in there 'club house' not far off.

"Eh… I can't believe that… ew…" Sukiyumi muttered to herself along side most of the other females.

One of them however was different. She was your stereo typical 'dumb blond' though the level of her intelligence was still in question as she made several odd if accurate observations in her 'career' as a member of the Naruto fan club. (Not to be confused with the 'We got some sense kicked into us by Naruto club that existed in the original timeline) She was currently barring a confused look to her face "Wait. Wouldn't Lee be off with his team like right about now? I meen that Gai that is there sensei is like really into training and all that stuff right?"

Comprehension dawned on the others, and as one they turned to the area they had left 'Lee'

Sukiyumi Roared out "To the academy!" both the cheers and bodies of her followers swiftly followed her as she rushed towards the place of learning.

-----

Not far off a chill ran down 'Rock Lee's' neck, and instinctively the demon host knew the jig was up "Damn they figured it out." Swiftly using what he had dubbed 'Defensive tactic #27' he transformed into a garbage can and hid at the side of the street as the horde raced past. 'That's odd. They don't seem to be looking for me at the moment… but why would they be in such a rush.' Turning around he face vaulted.

Completely surrounding the academy, and every available surface near by was a verbal wall of girls. 'How the hell do they do that?' he then noticed that there were multiple copies of a few of them 'Wait, a few of them are training to be shinobi as well, they know the clone technique. Crap this is going to be harder then I though.'

He growled under his breath. It was times like these he wished ever so much he could use lethal force on civilians…

'Well henge isn't going to get me through, they'll mass tackle anything trying to get through. A Clone rush will fail for similar reasons…' Almost all his techniques were high-powered attack jutsu, with an exception of the advanced versions of the basics. He knew those techniques to such a degree that most were easier to use then a basic C class elemental jutsu freshly copied from his sharingan. "Still that doesn't help outside of an actual fight." He murmured 'I could use my bloodline to study one of them then take there place, but if I'm spotted I'd be swarmed in seconds… No that wouldn't work. Damn it there isn't a jutsu in my library that could help!' he cursed to himself before, it suddenly hit him. 'If Jutsu won't help, then…' he grinned evilly to himself. He had a feeling the tables were about to turn.

-----(The blockade)

"Are you sure Naruto-kun will show up? I meen what if he gives up and decides to go home for today?" a teal haired girl with identically colored eyes asked with a board expression.

"Of corse he will silly! Naruto-kun never gives up! It's what makes him Naruto-kun!" a girl with sharp blue eyes and black hair viscously replied. "Naruto-kun is probably plotting a way to make his way here right now with out the other girls knowing, so he can sweep me off my feet and take me out on a date! It'll be great, he'll take us to a nice wok down the street, then a movie, and finally he'll walk me home and…" she started giggling.

"No he wouldn't." replied the first girl "He doesn't even eat meat much, he likes raman, and that's what makes him such a good person. He's so nice, and cool, but he still appreciates the simple things." She was going to go into further augments but suddenly spotted something out of the corner of her eye. "Naruto-Kun!" she yelled out drawing the attention of every other member of the Naruto fan club.

Sure enough the blond was calmly approaching the academy with a small half smile to his face, it wasn't his regular grin, but all things considered, he shouldn't have being near as content.

This of corse invoked mass confusion with the large group of female fans as they had approached. "Hey they're… You know what, I realized something just now. Why should I be running away like this? I meen it's not like I'm an ice king and all, and even though I don't really appreciate how your going about this, doesn't meen I should ignore you." he sighed "So I figure I might as well give you a shot right?" he raised an eyebrow and grinned his patented foxy grin, as the moral of the fan group shot up more then just a few notches. "The only problem is… who am I going to go out with?"

The girls collectively blinked. Then one-stepped forward "Me of corse! We can go together to the…"

"No Me!" interrupted another girl "Why should you go first when I've being in the club longer!?"

"No I deserve to go first, it was my strategies that made him come forward!" yelled out another

"He doesn't like forward girls though I should go first!" screamed the first

"Why you!" blunted Kunai were drawn from the academy students, while the civilian members of the group drew everything from fan signs to frying pans.

Though the chaos, one now genuinely grinning blond happily strolled, entering the academy doors just as second period began.

Iruka looked up startled at Naruto as he entered "Uzumaki! Why are you so late! You missed the entire first portion about survival behind enemy lines!"

The blond twitched, then snickered, "B-behind enemy lines? As in everyone is out to get you, and no were is safe?" he barked a laugh "As in hundreds of people are all around you, looking for you, and your only hope of secure is guarded tighter then an Aburame's eye color?" his eyes had a twitch of madness to them.

Frowning Iruka nodded "Yes like that. We were discussing what one should do in such a situation."

The lost Uchiha shook slightly, grinning so hard you'd think his teeth would break. "Like hiding, and making distractions right? And of corse negotiating, have to remember bringing chaos and descent into enemy ranks as well right?" at this point the other near by members of the class had backed away at the obviously insane boy.

Once more the bottle nosed teacher nodded "Yes… You studied ahead for once Naruto?"

The blue eyed boy laughed, he laughed a deep near psychotic laugh, his tone growing with more and more madness until he eventually simply collapsed onto the ground, sobbing. Muttering something like "Never again." And "pull an Itachi on them, see how they like it…"

Iruka blinked at the shaking mound of cloth and blond hair "Was it something I said?"

-----

Authors Second note: So, long time no update eh? Sorry about that guys. I'll try to do so more often, but as stated before, I had my reasons. As it is this one feels just a tiny bit rushed. Never the less I hope you enjoyed this little humor part. The serious stuff kicks in next chapter… We might have one more academy day chapter, or go right to graduation. For those it may interest I plan on later on starting up a sub story 'the academy years' weather this would be an actual separate story, or just a side story latter on in this fic is unknown.

Anyhow, a digital cookie for whoever can guess what the teem will be. Keep in mind that the marks for the class are a bit different, as are our young heroes peer relations. The Ino/Shika/Cho trilogy will not be broken, but for the others, all bets are off.


End file.
